The Only Thing That Can Hold Hassan Whiteside Back

Reasons For Optimism

According to Joe Goodman of the Miami Herald, Whiteside’s teammates gave him some tough love during a few huddles when his temper was getting away from him, and last night’s 18-25-4 stat line indicates he’s capable of heeding good advice to keep his head in the game.

This is a great sign, especially after Whiteside received a technical foul in last night’s game for arguing with an official. The fact that his temper flared and he was able to rein it back in to lead his team to victory, even over a lowly Lakers team, speaks volumes.

I don’t mean to be the guy throwing stones at a player who’s rightfully on a pedestal. Between him and Rudy Gobert, the center position finally has some potential again in the NBA and I hope this is all just conjecture that looks silly five years from now. There are only so many guys in the world who can do things like this, after all:

But if — and this is a BIG “if” here — his career doesn’t live up to the positive hype he’s generated in the past two months, you’ll know why. And at that point in time, no one will be able to feign surprise or innocence.

Least of all Hassan Whiteside.

Next: NBA: 50 Greatest Players Of All Time

More from Hoops Habit

• The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
• 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout