Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside was benched for a notable portion of the team’s lopsided 114-84 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night, and head coach Erik Spoelstra bluntly explained why afterwards.
“If he does not dominate at the rim, in the paint, we don’t have a chance to win,” Spoelstra said of Whiteside, who he yanked early in the third quarter and didn’t reinsert until the start of the fourth, per Anthony Chiang of the Palm Beach Post. “That’s what great players have to shoulder. That’s the responsibility of a great player.
“Just to change the energy,” Spoelstra continued when asked about why he made the decision. “Just wanted some more energy, some more life on the glass, defending pick-and-rolls. That was a coaching decision. It happens in this league. This league is for competitors only. It’s great competitive matchups every single night. We have a lot of guys out, so that’s a big responsibility for him. He’s starting to understand what that actually means.”
Whiteside is averaging 17.2 points, a league-leading 14.6 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game in 2016-17 as a newfound focal point of the Heat’s gameplan on both ends. But he managed just eight points and 12 rebounds against the Cavs, while also failing to block a shot for only the second time all season.
Granted, a date with the defending champs is no walk in the park, but it was still a concerning lack of effort by Whiteside, who has done battle with maturity issues in the past. The All-Defensive Second Teamer is a player who has a tendency to play uninspired basketball when he feels like he isn’t getting enough touches on the offensive end. Motivation has also been hard to come by this season with the Heat at 7-16 and Whiteside having just inked a $98 million deal over the summer.
But still, none of that is an excuse as that kind of mentality simply isn’t going to cut it in the Association. For Spoelstra, he wants to make sure that his talented big man gets the message loud and clear one way or the other.
