Jan. 27 (UPI) — The Chicago Bulls won’t have to deal with one of the NBA’s premier shot-blockers Friday when it faces the Miami Heat.
Heat center Hassan Whiteside has been ruled out for the 8 p.m. contest due to an ankle injury. Coach Erik Spoelstra revealed that Whiteside’s ankle is swollen and will get treatment on Friday, before being revaluated Saturday when the team returns to AmericanAirlines Arena.
“I want to get out here with these guys, I’m a competitor,” Whiteside said. “I want to play the game I love.”
He is day-to-day with the ankle ailment.
Whiteside said that he shouldn’t have played in the Heat’s Wednesday contest against the Brooklyn Nets. He has been battling the injury for more than a week.
“My ankle was bothering me before the game,” Whiteside told Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I shouldn’t have played. I tried to play through it. Coach tried to call me back in the fourth quarter. I told him I couldn’t go.”
Whiteside is averaging a career-high 16.9 points and 13.9 rebounds per game this season. After leading the NBA with 3.7 blocks per game in 2015, he is blocking 2 shots per game in 2016. He was snubbed from the 2017 All-Star contest earlier this week.
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