Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside isn’t satisfied with just coming in third for Defensive Player of the Year.
Take it how you want–I mean, that’s often how it goes with Miami Heat shot blocker Hassan Whiteside. You can view his comments, post-game flaunting, in-game flexing and even on-court play through whichever lens you want–but Whiteside isn’t happy with how things shook out for Defensive Player of the Year.
The NBA announced that Spurs wing stopper Kawhi Leonard will repeat as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, with Warriors do-it-all forward Draymond Green coming in second. Whiteside, who wasn’t in the league at the beginning of last season, finishing in third.
Hassan Whiteside on DPOY: "I'm used to being overlooked. I've been overlooked my whole life."
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) April 18, 2016
Whiteside on DPOY: "I was third place, I guess... I'm used to not getting credit for what I do."
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) April 18, 2016
Whiteside, who is also up for Most Improved, has resigned himself to not winning already.
Whiteside's up for Most Improved, too-- “I won’t win that. I won’t win nothing. I’ll probably never win any of that. I don’t win awards.”
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) April 18, 2016
That can go however you want it (and it’s hard to tell without being there and hearing how he said it). You can view it as whining, or you can view it as honesty on the path of not giving a sh*t. His teammate Dwyane Wade, who knows a little something about chips on shoulders, views it as a competitive edge.
Wade on Hassan being angry about Defensive POY voting: "That's a good thing. You want to see him not happy with that."
— Manny Navarro (@Manny_Navarro) April 18, 2016
But either way, Whiteside did give a hint that he has the right idea. That those regular season awards don’t interfere with the mission at hand, with one game down and (hopefully) many more to go in these playoffs.
Asked if he's disappointed about DPOY, Hassan Whiteside says, "We're in the playoffs, we're the 3-seed and we're up 1-0."
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) April 18, 2016
Is he whining? Yeah, maybe kind of. Does it matter? No, not as long as he keeps everything in perspective. Whiteside went off for 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting, 11 rebounds and three blocks as the Heat dominated the Charlotte Hornets in Game 1 of the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Next: 5 notes from the Heat's dominating win over the Hornets
And that was before he got upset with the voting. We’ll see if he’s able to channel that in Game 2 Wednesday.