Whiteside sorry for sudden exit
Heat center on leaving bench in loss: ‘I had to go to the bathroom.’
MIAMI — So was it frustration Hassan Whiteside that couldn’t hold in when he left the Miami Heat bench before time expired in Tuesday night’s loss to the Orlando Magic — or something else?
The Heat center, whom coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t play in the fourth quarter, said Wednesday he merely had to go to the bathroom, as Dwyane Wade had told reporters following the game.
“I was just holding it,” said Whiteside, who left the bench with 40.5 seconds remaining in the 105-90 defeat. “It’s not the first time I left the bench to go to the bathroom, but I think the situation kind of made it a bigger deal because we were down 15.”
But it was a big enough deal for Spoelstra to have a different reaction Wednesday.
“It’s totally unacceptable behavior by Hassan,” Spoelstra said. “We handled it as a team in the locker room [Wednesday].”
It was the fifth time in the last six games that Whiteside didn’t get fourth-quarter minutes, but the 7-footer insists it’s not irritating him.
“I’m not getting frustrated,” Whiteside said. “Coach is going to make the best decision, and the organization’s got Spo’s back. I trust him. That’s all I can do. I can only control what I can control, try and do my job.”
Whiteside was a rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds in nearly 25 minutes. He shot 6 of 7 from the floor.
Whiteside’s 12 points led the
“It’s totally unacceptable behavior by Hassan. We handled it as a team in the locker room [Wednesday].”
—Heat coach Erik Spoelstra
Heat at halftime, when they were up 50-46. But he was scoreless in the third quarter, when Miami was outscored 30-12.
“I didn’t know it was going to be as big of a deal as it was,” Whiteside of his early exit. “I couldn’t hold it. My stomach was bothering me. Maybe I would’ve tried to hold (it) even longer, I don’t know.
“I tried to hold it as long as I could, but I had to go to the bathroom. I’m sorry if that makes me a bad guy.”
Following Tuesday night’s loss, Spoelstra said he didn’t have a reason from Whiteside then but offered his best guess: “Probably extremely upset. Like we all are.”
Whiteside said the urgent trip to the restroom was the same explanation he gave his teammates after the game. He said he was approached by Wade and told him in front of teammates that his stomach was bugging him and he wasn’t sure if it was something he ate.
While Whiteside himself was not available to speak to reporters in the locker room following the loss, Wade first told the media about the bathroom ordeal Tuesday night.
“I think it was a bigger deal because it was me,” Whiteside said. “I went to the bathroom last game when we played Utah. I go to the bathroom — it’s not the first time. I think the situation was [amplified] in that it’s Hassan Whiteside.”
Whiteside said he wasn’t in the locker room because he shot 300 free throws after the game on the Heat’s practice court. He has converted just four of his 26 attempts over the last six games.
If there was any unsettled frustration after the loss, staying away from the media may have been the best course of action for Whiteside from a public relations standpoint, given a previous instance when he voiced his displeasure in the locker room over lack of playing time. Late last season, following a tight home loss to the Brooklyn Nets on March 31, Whiteside repeatedly said it was “bull----” that the Heat were playing him less to match up with smaller lineups.
Fallout from that expletive-laced tirade, for which he was fined, led to a rough end of the season, one Whiteside has been trying to put behind him so he can return to form after leading the NBA in blocks in 2015-16 and rebounds in 2016-17.
Between those campaigns he signed a fouryear, $98 million deal with the Heat. Making $25.4 million this year, he has a $27 million player option for the 2019-20 season.
Tuesday was a setback for Whiteside, who just one game earlier was active and physical against the Utah Jazz and center Rudy Gobert. Whiteside finished with 23 points and 20 rebounds in the one game among the Heat’s last six in which he saw fourth-quarter action.
Without Whiteside on Tuesday, Spoelstra played his other two centers, Bam Adebayo and Kelly Olynyk, the entire final period in a two-big lineup — albeit one that could match up better on the perimeter against 7-foot Magic center Nikola Vucevic, who is a capable 3-point shooter.
Olynyk provided a spark early in the fourth. Twelve of his 13 points came in the final period on four 3-pointers. Adebayo brought energy throughout his 23 minutes with blocks and putback slams that ignited the crowd.