Hassan Whiteside came on to the scene last year for the Miami Heat. After bouncing around the D-league, China, and a few NBA teams, he signed with the Miami Heat November 24, 2014. After countless DNP's and a few garbage time minutes, Whiteside finally got his chance to showcase he belonged. He recorded his first double double vs the Nets (11 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks) January 4th, 2015. He showed flashes of being able to rebound the ball at a high level and protect the paint. You could see he was still raw with all that talent. He was undisciplined when playing defense which led to his minutes being low due to foul trouble. On top of that he struggled to keep his composure on the court that led to incidents on the court and caused him to be suspended and inactive for a few games.
His talent even received praise from the great Bob Cousy calling him as talented defensively as Bill Russell. This guy comes off the scene and has a few good games and he's receiving Bill Russell comparisons? But the more you watched the more you understood what Bob Cousy was saying. He was one of the best rim protectors from the time he stepped on the court. He displayed his tenacious shot blocking ability when he posted his first career triple double in a win against the Bulls putting up 14 points, 13 rebounds and 12 blocks in just 24 min! In 48 games he had 7 games with 5 or more blocks and had at least 1 block in all of 8 games.
Fast forward to this year and he's been more mature on and off the court. He's been able to stay out of foul trouble stay on the court while earning trust from players, coaches and ownership. He's emerged as the best rim protector in the game today. He's been a beast averaging 3.9 blocks a game which is leading the league by a wide margin. He has 23 games this year with 4 or more blocks. He also gives so much more than rim protection. He's been very productive on the glass (11.2) and been reliable when given the opportunity to score (12.3). His domination continued when he posted his 3rd triple double this season with 19 points, 17 rebounds and 11 blocks against the Nuggets. He's a fun, young, energetic player to watch. His high energy on both ends of the floor is a joy for this Heat organization to have and come this off season Whiteside is going to have a very high price tag.
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