Hassan Whiteside is most known for his rebounding and emphatic rejections. However, he showcased the maturity in his game as he made a career-high seven assists during the Portland Trail Blazers' 116-127 win over the Sacramento Kings.

Plenty of fans still remember him as the emphatic shot-blocker who terrorized offenses as the Miami Heat's defensive anchor. However, no one thought that he'd become this capable of a facilitator.

Head coach Terry Stotts at first didn't believe his center could make needed passes. However, his revelation to Bleacher Report's Sean Highkin may put into perspective the sudden improvement of the 30-year-old in the passing department.

“He said he was gonna get a triple-double this season. I thought he might get it tonight.”

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Whiteside has been an important component of the Blazers' defense. However, he has frustrated some Blazers fans the way he did the Miami faithful during his years there. His apparent lack of effort has been a strong source of frustration among fans who know what he is capable of.

He replied to those criticisms with scathing comments of his own.

“You can’t average a double-double and not give an effort,” Whiteside said, per Washington Post's Ben Golliver. “You can’t get all those rebounds without an effort. I would love to tell them to go try.”

Since then, he's put up some impressive performances for the Blazers. He notched a franchise-high 10 blocks in a win against Chicago Bulls. This seven-assist game is only going to build his case against his critics.

However, it will be interesting to see if he actually manages to keep this level of production up the entire season.