Hassan Whiteside should be the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year
By Cory Sanning
It’s time to take Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside’s case for Defensive Player of the Year seriously.
“They ain’t doing it with blocks, though” a young center uttered, and uttered, and uttered.
Cocky, right? Maybe, but he’s dead on. No other player in the NBA has recorded a triple double with points, rebounds and blocks this season other than Miami’s standout rim protector, Hassan Whiteside.
Continuing to flourish and build on his breakout campaign, the Heat center’s defensive game has been even more impressive this go-around. He’s posting averages of 14.1 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.7 blocks. His blocks-per-game average is also 1.5 higher than second-place DeAndre Jordan at 2.3 per game and at a level that hasn’t been reached since Alonzo Mourning posted it in the 1998-99 season.
Even in his new bench role, Whiteside continues to turn heads while patrolling the paint better than any other force in the NBA this season. Whether he blocks the shot or not, nobody drives into the heart of Miami’s defense without looking twice, and as a coach, you can’t ask for anything more than that.
Since game one against Charlotte way back in October, Whiteside has not only built a case for Most Improved Player, but an even stronger case for Defensive Player of the Year.
Traditionally a big-man award given to the league’s best rim protector, last year’s trophy went to the gigantic claws of Kawhi Leonard, maybe the best two-way player in basketball. With the ever-growing confidence in both himself and his ability, Leonard terrorized opposing guards and wing-men to the tune of 2.3 steals and .8 blocks per game, all but establishing himself as the NBA’s best perimeter defender. Of course, going toe-to-toe with LeBron James multiple times on the game’s biggest stage doesn’t hurt, either.
Leonard’s defensive impact remains, and the runner-up and third place finishers from a season ago are both thriving in different ways. Draymond Green’s all-around game has been absolutely astounding to watch and DeAndre Jordan has played well, but hasn’t been blowing people away.
Remember when big men were appreciated, dominant and feared? Seems like a trend of the distant past. With the astonishing rise of Steph Curry and the 3-point-happy (albeit, very good) Golden State Warriors, basketball has become perimeter oriented, and to a fault at times. Passing up layups for open looks from the corner are the norm, and the art of shot blocking is ever so closer to going the way of the dinosaurs. What better way to make a statement than to award a seven-footer in today’s jump shooting game?
It’s not just Whiteside’s presence alone, his numbers speak for themselves. Loud and clear.
For the season, Whiteside has 22 games of five-plus blocks, by far a league high. In fact, of his 67 games, Hassan has recorded at least four swats in 33 of them. That’s nearly 50 percent for a player who was playing overseas and then fighting his way out of the D-League as recently as last season.
Needless to say, his rise to stardom has both taken the league by storm and surprise. With LeBron James long gone and Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade both on the backside of 30, the Heat will potentially be looking to Whiteside to produce at an All-Star caliber level for years to come, and nothing more would earn the young buck a nice, hefty contract this summer than bringing home his first Defensive Player of the Year award in his first full-length season (yikes).
It’s time people start considering Whiteside for the award, who, with the help of the Heat organization, has turned himself into an absolute monster on the defensive end. Other than the previously mentioned margin in his blocks-per-game average, he also grabs the fourth-most rebounds in the league and accounts for roughly the fifth-most defensive win shares. Maybe even more impressive, Whiteside is the highest-rated defender in the league and has the second-best defensive plus-minus rating.
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In a season where Wade has stayed impressively healthy and Pat Riley has made some Pat Riley moves, no other piece may be more important to a deep Heat playoff run than Whiteside, and a Defensive Player of the Year trophy could just be the beginning of a long collection of accolades for his career.