Hassan Whiteside is known for his blocks, and he had a huge one on one of Jonas Jerebko’s attempted shots on Saturday.
Hassan Whiteside may be the best shot blocker in the NBA, and he knows that. Last year, Whiteside exploded into the NBA mainstream with a quote after one of his big games, “I’m just trying to get my 2K rating up.” This year, he’s still improving that 2K rating, and is working hard each game to play the best basketball that he can.
The Miami Heat’s game against the Boston Celtics, which was a tie-breaker for third place in their division, was a nail-biter that had been a back and forth game all afternoon. The Celtics were playing well in the fourth quarter, and looked as if they were running away with it. But a few blocks late in the game showed that Whiteside was determined to keep his team in the game.
Perhaps his biggest block of the game was over Jonas Jerebko. Jerebko had a seemingly clear path to the rim as he got a few steps ahead of Whiteside, but Jerebko clearly underestimated the length of Whiteside, who reached out and stuffed Jonas’s layup. The ball ricocheted, taking a Miami bounce that allowed them to gain possession of the ball.
Later in this game Whiteside got his seventh and eighth blocks, alongside his already scored 14 points and 13 rebounds.
This season has been a rough one for Whiteside, as his immaturity has been a reason the Heat were looking to trade him at the deadline. Whiteside, who will be a free agent this summer, did not end up getting moved and is still doing big things for the Heat, as clearly shown by how heavily he impacted this game against the Celtics, even though he was not a starter.
Hassan has had several games this year with triple-doubles, including at least 10 blocks in those games. Whiteside is the first player in years to get that done, and he averages a league-leading 3.9 blocks per game. That, alongside his 12.8 points per game will make him a hot free agent this summer.