Former Miami Heat star Hassan Whiteside tells a story about his initial workout with Pat Riley
Former NBA player Hassan Whiteside ranks among the best stories in the Miami Heat history.
During the 2014-15 season, he captivated the league with his amazing story. Whiteside went from G League prospect to sensation. He became a top two-way center, displaying play at the position that dominated the 1980s and `90s because the likes of Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson.
Whiteside turned the opportunity in a nearly $100-million contract after playing for peanuts in the minor leagues. The experiment was short-lived because the Heat eventually traded him to the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2018-19 season.
But Whiteside made plenty of memories during his time in Miami. He recently told a story of his first workout with team president Pat Riley. He spoke of it during an appearance on the OGs podcast with former Heat players Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem.
"I remember going to Miami to workout," Whiteside said. "I worked out with Pat Riley. Pat Riley personally came out on the court and worked me out. Hardest workout of my life."
There were very few times when Riley attended player workouts. He wanted to make sure Whiteside was legit because the Heat were risking so much.
"He had on a suit, hair slicked back, collared shirt," Whiteside said. "I'm in there like breathing (heavy). I'm literally at the point where I'm going to black out before I stop this workout. It was not skilled. It was just full-court dunks."
Whiteside said things eventually got weird. Riley asked him to do some things that were out of the ordinary.
"He was like, `lick your hand and touch how as you can on the backboard," Whiteside said. "I'm getting all kinds of germs from this backboard ... I had to at least 120 dunks."
In the end, the Heat signed Whiteside and he became one of the best stories in league history. Miller told Whiteside that Riley had a purpose with the odd workout requests.
"He just wanted to see if he could break you," Miller said.
While Whiteside's tenure with the Heat was short-lived, it remains one of the best moments.
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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of HeatRoundtable. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com