To Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside, the perfection of his trip to Africa extended beyond his 5-for-5 shooting in Team World’s victory in the NBA Africa Game exhibition in Pretoria, South Africa.
“Life changing, life changing,” he said, “from building houses with kids, from seeing kids playing basketball, from taking selfies with all the kids around the world. It’s a dream come true. I never thought that kids in Africa or anybody in Africa would know my name. It takes me back. It’s crazy.”
Seeing so many Heat and especially Whiteside jerseys during his visit made a particular impact.
“It was so many. I was surprised by how many Whiteside’s jerseys I’ve seen,” he said on a video posted on the Heat website. “Heat Nation was in Africa, that’s crazy.”
He said the 4,400-foot altitude made for an interesting week of training.
“I’ve just been working all summer. The altitude out here is as high as Denver,” he said, with Denver at 5,300-feet. “Them lungs are burning. I wish I could train out here.”
Whiteside’s Team World won Saturday’s game 96-92 over Team Africa, with Whiteside’s performance including a 3-point conversion, six rebounds and three blocked shots in his 18:50 off the bench.
“It was more physical than the playoff games,” he said. “It was competitive. Guys were playing on defense.”
Whiteside’s team was coached by San Antonio Spurs assistant Ettore Messina.
“He did a great job of just drawing up plays,” he said. “There was so much movement. He made it easy, it was easy.”
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Heat training camp opens in late September, when their preseason also begins.
Whiteside has two seasons remaining on his contract, at $25.4 million this coming season, with a player option then for $27 million in 2019-20.
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