NBA: Hassan Whiteside Claims Bathroom Break Forced Him To Leave Bench

Hassan Whiteside caused quite a stir when Miami Heat faced Orlando Magic in a game they lost, 105-90. Initially, it was perceived that his abrupt exit was a result of being frustrated after seeing how the 29-year-old was held scoreless in the second half of the match.

According to the USA Today, Whiteside made a beeline to the locker room with 40.5 seconds left in the fourth period. He actually sat out the whole fourth quarter, which is one of the reasons tied up to the frustration angle that made sense. The only problem is that Whiteside never spoke about it publicly until now.

According to Whiteside, he needed to use the bathroom so badly that it apparently couldn’t wait. “I was just trying to use the bathroom. I was just holding it,” said Whiteside after team practice on Wednesday at the American Airlines Arena, according to the Miami Herald. “It’s not the first time I left the bench to go to the bathroom, but I think the situation kind of made it a bigger deal because we were down 15, I guess.”

His claim coincides with the reasoning of Dwayne Wade, although it still did not sit well with head coach Erik Spoelstra. But it is not that he has anything against Whiteside using the bathroom. Rather, it was the timing that the mentor wanted an immediate explanation regarding why he left the bench unprofessionally and abruptly.

Spoelstra and even Wade have decided to no longer speak on the matter, although it does cast a bad light on the Heat. However, the benching is being singled out as the catalyst. Looking at Miami’s past games, Whiteside has been benched for the entire quarter. The ploy has proved to be inefficient with the Heat managing to post a mere win in the last five games.

Despite the coaching decision, Whiteside stands pat that he is not frustrated through it all. “I’m not getting frustrated,” Whiteside said in a report from the Sun Sentinel. “Coach is going to make the best decisions for us and the organization’s got Coach Spo’s back, and I trust in Spo. That’s all I can do. I can only control what I control, which is coming in and doing my job, and try to block as many shots as I can and rebound as much as I can.”

It remains to be seen if the Heat will act on Whiteside’s latest antics. Disciplinary action is nothing new for the shot-blocking demon, having been fined for a profanity-laced rant, ironically about playing time too. Could this lead to an abrupt change in Southbeach soon?