Heat center Hassan Whiteside made it very clear that he was unhappy about his lack of minutes last season, and one of the main takeaways from the exit press conferences was that the team needed to clear the air between him and the coaching staff.
Whiteside was critical of head coach Erik Spoelstra over his lack of minutes, but it does look like he’s moving on, and is optimistic about next season.
Judging by the language of team president Pat Riley, it was clear that a sit down between him, Whiteside and Coach Spo was necessary. Apparently, that’s exactly what happened.
“We had a great talk,” Whiteside said, according to Shandel Richardson of The Sun Sentinel. “I just think it’s trust on both sides. I think that’s the biggest thing … It was about a four-hour meeting. It was a lot about life. It was two hours basketball, two hours life. It was a good meeting.”
He continued:
“I think the biggest thing is I just want to be out there,” Whiteside said. “It wasn’t about nothing else. I just wanted to be out there as much as possible. I think [I’ll play more] because I’ll be healthy. Last year, I wasn’t healthy.”
Whiteside averaged only 25.3 minutes per game last season, which was the fewest since his first year with the team, when he was injured for a spell, and logged only 23.8. Last season, however, was the healthiest Whiteside has been during his tenure in Miami, so it was curious why he didn’t see as many minutes. But apparently, he’ll be on the court more next season.
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