Hassan Whiteside came under heavy criticism for his performances in the Miami Heat's first-round playoff series with the Philadelphia 76ers as he struggled to have any impact.

The center was way below his best throughout the regular season and was almost a non-factor against the 76ers over their five games.

The Sixers wrapped up the series 4-1 on Tuesday night with a 104-91 victory at home.

Whiteside played just 10 minutes in the contest and scored two points on 0-for-4 shooting and had five rebounds.

Over the five encounters, he averaged only 15 minutes a game. With Philly often electing to play small, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra chose to counter that by taking his big man off the floor and playing Kelly Olynyk at the five as he's more mobile and can spread the floor with his outside shooting.

Whiteside tried to remain professional early in the series as he said he was happy to accept his coach's decision but the longer this continued, the harder it became for him to bite his tongue.

After their playoff exit, the 28-year-old expressed his frustration at not being given enough time on the floor to show what he can do.

"At least give me a chance to fight. At least give me a chance to fight," he said, per Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. "I can understand if I was playing 30 minutes and I played bad. At least give me a chance."

Whiteside was surprised to be pulled in the third quarter and not return to the game and it capped off what has been a difficult year for him.

"It's been a long year, man, up and downs, up and downs," he said.

His most interesting comment came when he was asked about his future with the team as he chose to be non-committal.

"We'll see. I can't tell you right now," he said.

He did, however, admit that he would seek talks with Spoelstra and president Pat Riley and address his issues.

"It's definitely something you can discuss with those guys," Whiteside stated.

After hearing the comments from the shot-blocking center, Dwyane Wade urged his teammate not to make excuses and to use this disappointment to work hard in the summer and come back as a better player.

"Hopefully he gets motivated from this series," Wade said, per Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post.

What happens with Whiteside in the offseason will be interesting as he's complained about playing time all year.

But the truth is that Miami has been better without him in the lineup and may well be regretting giving him such a huge contract.

He now has two years remaining on his four-year, $98 million contract and it'll be difficult for them to trade that away for a big that can't shoot.

The two parties will have to work things out and move forward together as the veteran is still a valuable asset with his ability to get double-doubles virtually every night and protect the rim.

It's a big summer ahead for both the Heat and Whiteside.