Hassan Whiteside

Hassan Niam Whiteside (born June 13, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Marshall Thundering Herd before being drafted 33rd overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 2010 NBA draft.

Early life

Whiteside grew up with six siblings and a single mother.^[1] Born and raised in Gastonia, North Carolina, he attended three high schools in two years: Hunter Huss High School,^[2] Ashbrook High School, and Forestview High School.

For his junior year of high school in 2006–07, Whiteside moved in with his father in Newark, New Jersey, playing at East Side High School. After averaging 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5.5 blocked shots per game, Whiteside went back to North Carolina for the 2007–08 school year and attended Hope Christian Academy (Charlotte, North Carolina). In 2008–09, he played prep basketball at The Patterson School in Lenoir, North Carolina where he helped lead Patterson to a 34–2 record and a No. 1 national ranking with former Marshall teammate DeAndre Kane.

Whiteside was rated as the No. 19 center in the Class of 2009, according to Scout.com^[3] and ranked as the No. 87 recruit in the Class of 2009 by Rivals.com.^[4] He played in the 2009 Reebok All-American preview game,^[5] and was a member of both the United Celtics (NC) AAU Team and the New Jersey Panthers AAU team as a high schooler.^[6]

Collegiate career

Whiteside chose Marshall over Charlotte, South Carolina, Kentucky, Auburn, and Mississippi State.^[7]

Whiteside came to Marshall University under the radar during the start of the 2009–10 season, but it did not take long for him to make national attention. He was spotlighted in the December 28 edition of ESPN The Magazine's College Basketball column after he amassed 14 points, 17 rebounds and nine blocked shots over 29 minutes in a 60–53 win over the Ohio University Bobcats on November 28.^[8] A few weeks later on December 12, Whiteside recorded the Thundering Herd's first triple-double in a 105–54 rout of the Brescia Bearcats, scoring 17 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and blocking 11 shots.^[9] Whiteside would go on to have two more triple-doubles on the year against the UCF Knights on January 13, and February 27.^[10][11] He finished the season as the nation's leader in blocked shots with 182, and he also broke the C-USA record held by Tulsa's Jerome Jordan for most blocked shots in a single season and the Marshall record for the most blocked shots in a single season and career all in his freshman year. The 182 blocks were also a national record for a freshman in a single season, topping 177 by BYU's Shawn Bradley in 1990–91.

On March 29, 2010, Whiteside declared himself eligible for the 2010 NBA draft, after Marshall head coach Donnie Jones accepted the head coaching job at Conference USA rival UCF Knights.^[12]

College statistics

^[13]

Professional career

Sacramento Kings, D-League and overseas (2010–2014)

On June 24, 2010, Whiteside was drafted with the 3rd pick in the 2nd round of the 2010 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings. On July 19, he signed a four-year, $3.8 million contract with the Kings. The first two years of the deal were guaranteed for $1.76 million.^[14]

On November 29, 2010, Whiteside was assigned to the Kings' D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns.^[15] Whiteside was recalled back to the Kings on January 9, 2011.^[16]

On March 5, 2011, Whiteside had surgery to repair a partially torn tendon in his left knee, which sidelined him for the season.^[17] He only appeared in one game with the Kings during his rookie season.

In January 2012, Whiteside was assigned once again to the Reno Bighorns of the NBA D-League.^[18] On February 4, Whiteside was recalled to the Kings for the second time.^[19]

On July 16, 2012, Whiteside was waived by the Sacramento Kings.^[20]

On December 14, 2012, Whiteside was acquired by the Sioux Falls Skyforce.^[21] On January 4, 2013, Whiteside was traded to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in exchange for Damian Saunders.^[22] After the D-League season, he joined Amchit Club in Lebanon.^[23]

On May 26, 2013, Whiteside joined the Sichuan Blue Whales (NBL) in China. He played 27 games averaging 25.7 points (56.4% shooting), 16.6 rebounds, 5.1 blocks, and 1.4 steals per game. He was named Defensive Player of the Year, Center of the Year, and was selected to the All-NBL 1st Team. The Blue Whales went undefeated in the playoffs en route to the NBL Championship. Whiteside was awarded Finals MVP.^[24][25]

In November 2013, Whiteside signed with Al Mouttahed Tripoli of the Lebanese Basketball League.^[26] He was released in April 2014.^[27] The next month, he joined the Jiangsu Tongxi of China, before leaving them in June after 17 games.^[28]

On September 25, 2014, Whiteside signed with the Memphis Grizzlies.^[29] However, he was later waived by the Grizzlies on October 22, 2014.^[30] On October 30, 2014, he was reacquired by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Two days later, his rights were traded to the Iowa Energy.^[31] He officially joined the Energy on November 14, 2014.^[32] On November 19, he re-signed with the Grizzlies.^[33] However, he was waived again the next day.^[34] On November 22, he re-joined Iowa.^[35]

Miami Heat (2014–present)

2014–15 season

On November 24, 2014, Whiteside signed with the Miami Heat.^[36] On December 13, he was assigned to the Sioux Falls Skyforce,^[37] but was recalled two days later.^[38] On January 4, 2015, he recorded his first career double-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks in an 88–84 win over the Brooklyn Nets.^[39]

On January 11, 2015, Whiteside recorded a then career-high 23 points, 16 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in a 104–90 win against the Los Angeles Clippers.^[40] On January 25, he recorded his first career triple-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and franchise record 12 blocks in a 96–84 win over the Chicago Bulls.^[41][42] In the process, Whiteside became just the fourth player in the previous 25 years with at least 12 points, 12 rebounds and 12 blocks in a game, and the first player since Manute Bol with 12 blocks off the bench in 25 minutes or less. Bol had 13 blocks in 23 minutes.^[43] On February 4, he scored a then career-high 24 points on 12-of-13 shooting along with 20 rebounds in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. His 90% field goal shooting and his 20/20 night made him one of only four players in NBA history to achieve such a feat.^[44]

On March 2, 2015, Whiteside got into a fight with Alex Len of the Phoenix Suns. The following day, the NBA fined Whiteside $15,000 for his role in the altercation.^[45] On March 10, he was suspended for one game without pay for striking Kelly Olynyk during the Heat's March 9 loss to the Boston Celtics.^[46] He went on to finish fourth in the NBA Most Improved Player Award voting.^[47] During his first season with the Heat, Whiteside averaged a double-double with 11.8 points and 10 rebounds per game.

2015–16 season

On November 1, 2015, Whiteside scored a career-high 25 points in a 109–89 win over the Houston Rockets.^[48] On November 17, he recorded his second career triple-double with 22 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He became the seventh player in NBA history with multiple points-rebounds-blocks triple-doubles.^[49] On November 23, in a game against the New York Knicks, Whiteside blocked five shots, giving him 63 through 13 games. The previous Heat record for blocks at this point of the season belonged to Alonzo Mourning, who had 50 to open the 1998–99 season.^[50] On December 9, he recorded three blocks against the Charlotte Hornets, thus opening the season with two or more blocks in all 20 games, trailing only Mark Eaton (24, 1988–89 with Utah) and Shaquille O'Neal (23, 1992–93 with Orlando) for longest streaks to start a season.^[51] His streak ended at 21 after he failed to record a block on December 13 against the Memphis Grizzlies.^[52]

On January 15, 2016, Whiteside recorded his third career triple-double with 19 points, 17 rebounds and 11 blocked shots in a 98–95 win over the Denver Nuggets.^[53] Between January 22 and February 2, he missed six games with a left hip injury. He returned to action on February 3, recording 10 points, nine rebounds and five blocks in 17 minutes off the bench in a 93–90 win over the Dallas Mavericks.^[54] Two days later, he recorded his third triple-double of the season and fourth of his career with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in 27 minutes off the bench in a 98–95 win over the Charlotte Hornets.^[55]

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Awards and honors

• 2010 Sporting News second team All-American
• 2010 Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year
• 2010 Conference USA Freshman of the Year
• 2010 Conference USA All-Freshman Team
• 2010 A member of FOXSports.com's All-Freshman Team
• 2010 CBSSports.com Freshman All-American Team
• 2010 Conference USA All-Defensive Team
• 2010 Conference USA 7-time Rookie of The Week
• 2010 Second Team All-Conference USA
• 2010 NCAA Second Team All-Freshman Team
• 2010 NCAA Division I blocks leader
• 2010 First NCAA Conference USA player to ever record three triple-doubles in a season^[56]

Personal

Whiteside is the son of Hasson Arbubakrr and Debbie Whiteside.^[57] His father played in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1983 to 1984.

See also

• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 13 or more blocks in a game
• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season blocks leaders
• List of National Basketball Association players with most blocks in a game

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com, or Basketball-Reference.com
• Hassan Whiteside at herdzone.com
• Hassan Whiteside at nbadleague.com