Despite his monster season, Miami Heat star Hassan Whiteside has come in seventh among centers in All-NBA voting.
The Miami Heat have been overlooked yet again, this time regarding Hassan Whiteside.
Early Thursday afternoon, the league’s All-NBA votes were released, yielding answers to who would be chosen for this year’s first, second and third-team All-NBA.
Of course guys like James Harden, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook made first-team, while the likes of Kevin Durant and Isaiah Thomas were voted to second-team, leaving talent such as Jimmy Butler and and John Wall on third-team.
Unfortunately, the only Heat player that even received votes was Whiteside, and he fell to seventh among centers.
Having gotten 18 nods, Whiteside fell behind first-team Anthony Davis, second-team Rudy Gobert and third-team DeAndre Jordan, as well as Karl Anthony-Towns, Marc Gasol and DeMarcus Cousins.
Sigh.
Now admittedly, in a league so packed with stardom, it can be hard to make a case for one guy over another. So often it comes down to voting criteria, which can differ vastly from one panel member to the next. Nevermind that at times, comparing skill-sets is like looking at apples and oranges.
However, it seems Whiteside may have gotten the short end of the stick strictly based on Miami’s turbulent year.
Having averaged 17.0 points, 14.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks a game in 32.6 minutes of play, the 27-year-old dominated both ends of the floor during his 2016-17 run. He saw tremendous growth on the court, developing his jumper and improving his free throws, as well as off of it via his work ethic. Throughout the team’s struggles, the seven-footer constantly remained a bright spot in the season, never once letting up.
So how a guy like Jordan, who only averaged 12.7 points, 13.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per matchup in 31.7 minutes received more votes than Whiteside, is suspect. At best.
(Especially when all he does is catch lobs…)
Heck, sophomore Anthony-Towns averaged 25.1 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks a contest in 37.0 minutes of play. And certainly carried the Minnesota Timberwolves on his back.
Even Marc Gasol, who may have been slightly more efficient offensively (averaging 19.5 points), was not as strong on defense (with just 6.3 rebounds per game).
Whiteside was hoping to share the honor of making an All-NBA team as a center with Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning; the only Heat centers who have ever made All-NBA. But instead will have to settle for being the sole Miami member to even be considered by the panel.
(Goran Dragic having a mind-blowing year did not seem to matter.)
Strangely, the franchise has only housed three other All-NBA team members in its 29 seasons: James, Tim Hardaway and Dwyane Wade.
While James was voted first-team in 2011-14, Hardaway made first-team in 1997 and second-team in 1998 and 1999. Wade on the other hand was first-team in 2009 and 2010, second-team in 2005, 2006 and 2011 and third-team in 2007, 2012, 2015.
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Making an All-NBA team may not be the be-all end-all in a player’s career, but it sure would have been nice for both Hassan Whiteside and the Miami Heat to get the credit they deserve.