NBA Miami Heat

Could Miami Heat’s Hassan Whiteside Be The Next Wave Of “Linsanity”?

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By @DSchultz89

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Every once in a while, a little-known player gets an opportunity to prove himself in sports. NBA fans saw this happen three years ago when a little-used reserve named Jeremy Lin got a chance to play minutes for the New York Knicks. Lin played very well, and eventually became the team’s starting point guard while creating the short craze known as “Linsanity” in the process.

While Lin is no longer playing at the high level he was during his time with the Knicks (he is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers), he has still proved to be a decent player in the league who would probably not be playing basketball in the NBA right now if not for the opportunity he received.

Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside has recently had a stretch of games where he has looked extremely impressive. Just like when Lin scored a career-high 38 points on national TV against the Lakers in his “coming out” game, Whiteside recorded a triple-double in a televised game on ABC against the Chicago Bulls with 14 points, 13 rebounds and a franchise-record 12 blocks in only 25 minutes of play.

For the month of January, Whiteside is currently averaging 12.3 PPG, 8.6 RPG and 4.0 BPG on a scorching-hot 70.4 percent mark from the field. Granted, unlike Lin who was undrafted, Whiteside was a high second-round pick of the Sacramento Kings, but their stories are similar given how both came out of nowhere and caught everyone by surprise with their strong play.

If Whiteside was putting up these numbers for the Knicks, you can bet he would be getting more attention than he already is playing for the Heat.

In short, I do not believe this will be the next wave of “Linsanity” given the market and situation he is in, but the potential is certainly there if Whiteside continues to post stellar numbers. His shot-blocking ability gives the Heat a lot of flexibility with how they want to play their lineups, and Whiteside has made it clear that he has a chip on his shoulder to prove all the teams that passed on him wrong.

As long as he keeps this kind of production up, I see no reason why he should not receive more minutes as the season progresses, as he will most likely become one of the key reasons why the Heat stay in the playoff picture as long as they remain healthy.

Dan Schultz is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @dschultz89. “Like” him on Facebook and add him on Google.

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