NBA legend Bob Cousy likens the Miami Heat forward to another legend, Bill Russell.
The Miami Heat received a huge boost from forward Hassan Whiteside this season. Whiteside has had multiple double-double games, several of which included 20+ rebounds. He recorded a triple-double against the Bulls on Jan. 25 with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 blocked shots. Whiteside has played with the kind of motor and effort that the Heat needed to sustain a level of competitiveness.
The breakout season for Whiteside caught the attention of NBA legend and Hall of Famer Bob Cousy, who told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette that Whiteside reminds him of one of his fellow Hall of Famers:
“I have never said this in the 40 years since I retired,” Cousy said in a recent telephone interview, “but he is the first big guy, not (Patrick) Ewing, (Hakeem) Olajuwon, Shaq (O’Neal), who reminds me defensively and on the boards of Russell. He runs the floor well, he has excellent timing, he blocks shots and keeps them in play the way Russell did.”
“That’s a great honor,” Whiteside said before the Celtics hosted Miami Wednesday. “Everybody knows that Bill Russell is probably one of the best shot blockers that ever lived. That’s really a big honor that he thinks of me that way.”
To the educated basketball fan, this can only come off as sheer blasphemy from Bob Cousy. Hassan Whiteside is gifted at the things Cousy mentioned, no doubt, but Bill Russell is considered one of basketball’s icons with 11 championship rings and has the credential of dominating his era in the 1960’s. Russell is one of the greatest centers of all time.
In Cousy’s defense, he didn’t compare Whiteside to Russell as a winner, just as a basketball player. Whiteside does exhibit an incredible knack and timing for rebounding and blocked shots, which is were the favorable attributes of Bill Russell. Does Whiteside have the potential to be an impact player like Russell was? His time with the Heat this season has shown tremendous impact, but in terms of being the kind of impact that Russell was on the floor, more time, minutes, and more consistency will be the true test of that potential.
