Miami Heat: Best Heat Players since 2000
The Miami Heat have been one of the best teams in the NBA in recent history.
They were one of the expansion teams and were founded in 1988 and after a period of mediocrity, the Heat would gain relevance during the 1990s.
Miami Heat has won a total of 3 championships, in 2006, 2012 and 2013. They are the first to bring in the concept of “superteams” with the Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
A lot of Hall of Famers and All-Stars have played for the Miami Heat in their short history, from Alonzo Mourning to Shaquille O’Neal, to Gary Payton and Lamar Odom. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and find out the best Miami Heat players since 2000.
#5. Hassan Whiteside (2014-present)
Miami Heat have had a great knack of finding players that are discarded by other franchises in the early part of their career. Whiteside was the 33rd overall pick and a second-round draft pick of the Sacramento Kings in 2010.
He only played in 19 NBA games over 2 seasons in Sacramento. He didn’t play in the NBA at all for the next 2 seasons, as he was moving from team to team in the D League as well as Lebanon and China.
After impressing for the Jiangsu Tongxi, he played in the summer league for the Toronto Raptors and the preseason with the Memphis Grizzlies. He did not play a single game for the Grizzlies and ended up signing for the Miami Heat in 2014.
The Center played some impressive games for the Miami Heat over the course of 2 seasons and was awarded a 4 year 98 million deal in 2016. He slowly improved and is now one of the key players in the Miami Heat team, leading them to 2 postseason runs.
He is averaging 13.5 points per game along with 11.5 rebounds per game as well. He is an excellent rim protector and has 2.4 blocks per game too.
Whiteside suffered through some nagging injuries throughout his career and since he is a part of the Heat till 2020 as a key piece and the future of the franchise, he has to perform to the standards others have set for him.