Hassan Whiteside has become one of the most remarkable NBA stories of recent years, a virtual outcast who was a second-round draft pick, a regular in the minor league D-League and then expatriate playing in China and Lebanon, and even in an attempt to return to the NBA released by the Memphis Grizzlies.
So the Miami Heat, who experiment in lost cause big men like they have with Eddy Curry, Chris "Birdman" Andersen and Greg Oden, took a chance. And this one paid off like a slot machine jackpot: Whiteside has become the NBA's runaway leader in blocked shots, he's being touted as Defensive Player of the Year, he's put up some of the most amazing Wilt-like statistics with multiple triple-doubles with blocks.
In the last week of February, he had 25 points and 23 rebounds in 29 minutes in a win over Washington, 19 points and 18 rebounds in a win over Indiana, 13 points and 15 rebounds and eight blocks last week in a loss in Boston. Earlier in the month he'd had a 10, 10 and 10 blocks triple-double against the Hornets.
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