Through his first six seasons of his NBA career, Miami Heat big man Hassan Whiteside has been almost entirely a non-factor from 3-point range. In fact, Whiteside drilled his only two career attempts during this past regular season.
The 28-year-old has apparently heard enough of the critics that say he can't shoot from beyond the arc as he took to social media to quickly show that he can drill shots from distance with ease while sending a subtle message to his team in the process.
Hassan Whiteside — "There's a difference between 'you can't shoot and you're not allowed’ [to shoot]" 👀 pic.twitter.com/vgQ9yiT3sJ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 23, 2018
Since coming onto the scene with the Heat, Whiteside has primarily operated in the paint for his offensive production with occasional jumpers mixed into his scoring rapport. However, the use of the 3-point shot hasn't been something he has emphasized or keyed in on at any point in his career. The two makes he had were both instances where had a wide open shot available to him to knock it down.
There could be a shift in that dynamic as Whiteside struggled tremendously in the playoffs against Philadelphia 76ers All-Star big man Joel Embiid that saw him be almost entirely a non-factor and have his minute workload reduced significantly. In five games played, he averaged just 5.2 points and 6.0 rebounds in 15.4 minutes per game. Aside from his double-double performance in Game 4 of the series, Whiteside failed to reach double-figure scoring while being on the floor 15 minutes or fewer in each of the other games.
This should place a high amount of importance on Whiteside to work on his game over the offseason to become a more versatile offensive threat could allow him to be a bigger impact player on that end of the floor. This may very well see him include that 3-point shot in his game to get his career back on the right track next season.
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