Hassan Whiteside is frustrated about his lack of playing time

GiveMeSport

scores

By Dan Karpuc

Published Apr 2, 2018

He was eventually fined by the organization after the remarks went viral

After receiving a maximum extension from the Miami Heat before the 2016-2017 season, Hassan Whiteside showed exactly why he was worth every penny, averaging 17.0 points, 14.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game in 32.6 minutes last season.However, his 2017-2018 campaign has been much different.Averaging 14.1 points and 11.6 boards and 1.7 blocks in just 25.6 minutes per contest, the center has dealt with a few injuries and has also seen his playing time drastically decrease due to head coach Erik Spoelsta’s willingness to play small ball on a consistent basis.Although losing playing time certainly stings for any NBA player, Whiteside kept a professional tone earlier in the season when asked about how his limited minutes affected him. After playing just 20 minutes in a loss to the Chicago Bulls on January 15, he said, per Ira Winderman Sun Sentinel, "It's whatever coach Spo wants. That's what coach Spo wants to do, that’s the lineup he wants to go with.”When he played 22 minutes despite putting up 19 points and 14 rebounds against the Orlando Magic back on February 5, he still seemed to tolerate the situation. "I played my average minutes, you know. I average, what, 22 minutes, 23 minutes? So that's pretty much how it's been. But coach went with the team that he wanted to get the win with and it's coach's decision. I can't do nothing about that,” he said, per Winderman.However, everything fell off the rails during his postgame media availability on Saturday night after he was limited to 20 minutes in a 110-109 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. He posted 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting and added six rebounds, two blocks and a steal during his limited minutes, but was held off the court in the fourth quarter as Spoelstra matched up with their undersized opponents."Man, it's annoying, you know. Why we matching up? We got one of the best centers in the league," Whiteside said. "Why we matching up? A lot of teams don't have a good center,” Whiteside stated along with a few expletives.

"I don't know if it's because I'm on a minutes restriction or what," Whiteside added. "But the minutes have been like that all year. It's just really frustrating and it's been frustrating. … It’s tough. … I don't know man, it's crazy. I don't understand it.”

Before Whiteside openly criticized his coaching staff, Spoelstra explained his thinking behind benching the center down the stretch.

"They went to the smaller lineup and it always comes to that," the coach explained. "Does the speed lineup get to size or size get to speed? And their speed got to our size for a little bit.”

Although it was Whiteside’s second game back after he missed nine contests with a knee injury, the Heat never announced that he was on any kind of minute restriction. As seen all season, Spoelstra has turned to a combination of James Johnson, Kelly Olynyk or even rookie Bam Adebayo instead of Whiteside late in games.

As a response to the center’s outspoken criticism, the team reportedly fined him an undisclosed amount on Sunday.