The NBA regular season continued, with the Jazz beating the Wizards and Jazz bench center Whiteside playing well. In the whole game, he shot 8 of 9 and played 20 minutes with 18 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks, showing an efficient state.
It was Whiteside's second consecutive game to play efficiently. In the last game to beat Philadelphia, Whiteside played well. Playing 15 minutes off the bench, he had 14 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks on 5-of-8 shooting.
As a center who has only made $2.4 million this season, Whiteside has once again proven himself to be capable. And if you remember Whiteside, you'll remember how well he did at his peak.
The 2.13-meter-tall center with rather exaggerated arm span and bounce has enviable physical conditions. Unfortunately, his professional attitude has always been problematic, he did not train hard enough, and the defensive end was occasionally slack, which also led to his stay away from the NBA for a time and also played in china's NBL league.
But Whiteside was capable. With a good return to the NBA, he was later recognized by the Heat and received a four-year, $98 million top salary contract. 5 years ago, the contract was quite generous, and he went from a low salary to a top paid player. After he got the big contract, Wade used to tease him: "Can you borrow me 5 yuan to spend?" ”
After getting the top salary, Whiteside still failed to play a desired performance. He has averaged rebounds and doubles per game for many consecutive seasons, and has also played well in blocks, having blocked doubles in a single game many times and delivered 12 blocks in a single game. But on the offensive end, Whiteside still lacked dominance and appeared to be decent. Coupled with Whiteside's lack of investment in the game, he was eventually abandoned by the Heat, and he could only wander around with a basic salary contract for many years.
Whiteside is still capable, but the key is to see if he invests. For example, last season, he scored 26 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks against hardened and Irving's Nets (Durant was absent) on 12-of-15 shooting.
Now, he has played efficiently in a row, and if he can continue this state, I believe Whiteside will get more recognition and get bigger contracts.