Hassan Whiteside A Problem The Miami Heat Have To Accept

The latest incident is by far the most troubling one, and Hassan Whiteside will likely earn the suspension that has been coming for some time. In a Monday night loss to the Boston Celtics, Whiteside got tangled up with Boston’s Kelly Olynyk and retaliated seconds later by delivering a forearm shove to the back of Olynyk’s head.

The hit was completely out of the blue, at least according to Olynyk (via Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick):

Kelly Olynyk on Whiteside hit: "I don't even know what happened there... I just got up." Says they weren't jawing.
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) March 10, 2015

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Now, Olynyk could be lying outright or, at least, not telling the full story. Whiteside hasn’t spoken to reporters following the incident and probably won’t until the league hands down the punishment that is surely coming.

The problem is a layered one with Whiteside, although many will be quick to thoughtlessly dismiss him as a “thug” or “bully.” The space between the his latest incidents is the issue and one that has Whiteside’s teammates and coaches frustrated.

Whiteside was ejected in a March 2 game against the Phoenix Suns, one in which he fought with Alex Len. Unlike with Olynyk, the two young centers had been battling all night. It was the first time Whiteside and Len had ever faced off against one another and they were testing each other early and often.

Whiteside had been getting consistently good looks at the rim, often finishing shots with a powerful dunk – Len was getting visibly frustrated as the game went on. When Whiteside slammed it one last time midway through the third quarter, Len had enough.

Both players got tangled up after the Whiteside dunk and Len tossed him to the ground; you’ve seen the ensuing tackle unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last two weeks.

You can accept this a little more easily, as it was born out of frustration and built up over the course of the game. But shoving Olynyk so unexpectedly…even Whiteside’s teammates couldn’t justify that behavior.

Immediately after being ejected, Whiteside was followed into the locker room by team captain Udonis Haslem. While his minutes and abilities and have diminished as time goes on, there’s no denying he’s the heart of the team and you can imagine that Haslem had some rather choice words for the young center.

Even more damning are the words from Dwyane Wade to reporters following the game:

“He’s had enough veteran advice. There comes a time where you have to do it yourself. There’s only so many words people can continue to say to you. You gotta do it. Not for you, you gotta do it for the other guys in here you see sacrificing. That you see out there playing hurt and all the things that are going on. You’re part of a team. You’re part of an organization. We all have our moments, selfish moments. But you can’t continue to keep having them, because you gotta be reliable and you gotta be able to be counted on. And right now, if he continues to act that way, he’s not reliable.”

If you’ve followed Wade’s career closely, you’ll know that it takes a herculean effort to get him to berate his teammates so publicly. The only player to similarly suffer Wade’s wrath is current teammate Michael Beasley who, by his own admission, was a “knucklehead” during his first (of three) stint with Miami.

But Beasley seems to have — finally — figured it out, in no small part due to the team’s continued support through the years.

It’s that kind of commitment that is going to be required to turn Whiteside’s career around.

Whiteside is an immense talent, even if he needs further development to be an consistent threat. As per Couper Moorhead of HEAT.com, he’s putting up historic numbers for a first-year player:

"Blocks. Dunks. Rebounds. Plenty of guys can get good at one of those skills. Fewer can master two. But all three? This might be unprecedented in the modern era.Even if we take a little bit off Whiteside’s totals, bringing him down to a rebounding percentage of 20, a block percentage of 8 and a true-shooting percentage of 60, the list of players to reach all three marks in a single season in the last 30 years is:1. Hassan Whiteside2. End of List"

But what use is he if he’s not able to stay on the floor, if his temper and neurotic need to remind everyone that he can’t be easily bullied leads to further ejections? A comparison has already been made to another talented-yet-troubled big man, Andrew Bynum, by Anthony Tolliver of the Detroit Pistons.

For someone like Whiteside, who’s numbers stand out so completely, this is not the kind of company you want to keep.

Perhaps his attitude is the result of wanting to prove himself at the game’s highest level. To those of us on the outside, we can’t begin to imagine what it takes to push oneself to making it to the NBA, much less excelling once you get there. Sometimes slights, both real and perceived, are necessary to drive you.

But he’s made it now and he needs to learn that proving himself is less important than winning. His ejection against Boston completely changed the momentum and Miami, in the midst of a comeback against the Celtics, was simply deflated by the end of the game.

You hope that the Heat front office, one that has been a model of stability for nearly two decades, can find some way to help rein in Whiteside. With Hall-of-Fame center (and a noted hothead) Alonzo Mourning in place as well as assistant coach Juwaun Howard, there’s a core group that knows how to turn all that emotion and focus it into more consistent dominance.

Don’t make the mistake of overlooking Whiteside simply because he’s burst onto the scene in such a dramatic fashion this season. Maybe the comparison to Bynum is apt, as the player that once had such potential now finds himself out of the league. It should be enough of a reminder that, for all the success Whiteside has enjoyed this season, it could be gone in an instant.

The Heat must make Whiteside a priority this offseason, getting him to reach his full potential while limiting these types of distractions. It will clearly be worth the effort.

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