Miami Heat: 5 Reasons Hassan Whiteside Is For Real

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Mar 4, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside (21) reacts during the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

Reason No. 1: Sustained Success — Kind Of

The story of Hassan Whiteside is definitely one of human interest.

After being jettisoned from the NBA, Whiteside went into a basketball exile of sorts – a journey that would end up taking him across the world. Stops in China, Las Vegas, and Lebanon were part of his basketball odyssey, a quest that eventually led him back to the NBA, surfacing first in Memphis before landing in Miami.

The rest is history. Whiteside took the league by storm, perhaps the most surprising story since Jeremy Lin’s electric string of games with the New York Knicks. Like Lin did after his hot streak, Whiteside rose from obscurity to stardom in a matter of months.

Sep 25, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Jeremy Lin (7) during media day at the Time Warner Cable Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports /

But Whiteside’s emergence and “Linsanity” are two different entities.

Lin put together a string of about 10 superstar performances until he dropped down to the solid level he remains at today. “Linsanity” ended up as more of a blip than a trend and it is now fairly clear that Lin was playing at his ceiling.

Whiteside’s breakout spanned much further. His first big game came Jan. 4, 2015 against the Brooklyn Nets. He scored 10 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and rejected five shots.

In the 37 games he played following that contest, he registered 21 double-doubles, 16 games with 3+ blocked shots, a trio of 20-point, 10-rebound games, and one triple-double.

If you believe that Whiteside can thrive as a rebounding-machine who can swat shots with the best in the NBA, there is nothing in his post-breakout production to dissuade you. Considering that he grabbed a double-double in over 50 percent of his games during that span, and blocked three shots in 43 percent of those games, it’s pretty clear he is capable of producing at that level over multiple months of a season.

It is important to maintain proper perspective with Whiteside. But, if the question is can he dominate the boards, block shots, and achieve a double-double, the answer has been a resounding yes — and over a bigger sample size than you may think.

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