Thanks to Hassan Whiteside, James Johnson won’t have to pay the hefty fine he owes the NBA for his role in Wednesday night’s incident against the Atlanta Hawks.
Johnson came to the defense of Whiteside after the star center was thrown to the ground by Hawks rookie Taurean Prince, and the Miami Heat forward was ejected after getting a technical. You can watch the play here.
.@youngwhiteside takes a hard fall after a foul by Taurean Prince in the 4th. Watch the @MiamiHeat close out the game live on FOX Sports Sun pic.twitter.com/jH2puddQtU
— Bally Sports Florida & Bally Sports Sun (@BallySportsFL) February 2, 2017
Johnson has since been fined $7,000, and while Whiteside didn’t think it would come out to so much, he’s still picking up the tab.
“I’ll still pay it,” Whiteside said Friday, via the Sun-Sentinel. “He’s my guy.”
“I’m going to break my piggy bank or something.”
Johnson, who is on a one-year, $4 million contract, was grateful for Whiteside’s gesture.
“He came up to me and said, ‘I’ve got your fine.’ I don’t know if he knew how much it was then or I didn’t even know if I knew how much it was,” Johnson said.
“But if he wants to, he wants to. If not, I’ll pick it up. I ain’t hurting.”
Meanwhile, Heat point guard Goran Dragic said this is a step in the right direction for Whiteside, who signed a four-year, $98 million contract in the offseason.
“We always tease him, ‘Hey, Hassan you need to take the whole team to dinner,’ ” Dragic said. “He never did. And now he’s paying a fine. So that’s his step forward. We love Hassan. He’s a great guy, a great teammate. He appreciates that J.J. stepped in for him.”
It seems like Whiteside is earning the respect of his teammates, and gestures like those will go a long way.
Update: Johnson fined an additional $25,000
The NBA announced that Johnson was fined an additional $25,000 for Wednesday night’s incident, so it looks like Whiteside will be paying more than he originally thought.
Well . . . the stakes have just been raised on Hassan Whiteside's vow to pay James Johnson's fines. pic.twitter.com/qLdzrYpchK
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) February 3, 2017
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