Hassan Whiteside’s quest to beef with every other big in the NBA continues.
After the Toronto Raptors dealt a major blow to the playoff hopes of his Miami Heat by defeating them 96-94 on Friday, Whiteside called out Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas for flopping.
“Hats go off to JV; he’s a Grammy Award-winning actor,” said the league’s leading rebounder, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, presumably meaning Oscar Award-winning. “He throws his head back and it’s a foul. We know they like to flop and the antics they do. It’s tough when the same guy is calling every foul on you. You talk to him. He’s still calling every foul on you.”
Whiteside picked up five fouls on the evening, limiting him to just 27 minutes of action. Jackson also notes that referee Mark Lindsay whistled Whiteside for three of those five fouls.
The loss dropped the Heat to a full game behind the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference with three games to play, so there was likely some frustration in play on Whiteside’s part. He also has a bit of history with Valanciunas after the Lithuanian big thoroughly outplayed him in last year’s East semifinal series. As such, this type of reaction is par for the course for Whiteside, who always seems to to take his matchups with opposing centers personally.
