Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Wednesday that concerns about a severe disconnect with center Hassan Whiteside not only are overblown but that the two have been in contact on a regular basis this offseason.
"I have absolutely been in touch with Hassan," Spoelstra said after taking in a Heat summer-league practice at a Las Vegas high school. "We've gotten together for lunch, in constant contact on the phone and in texts."
In the wake of Spoelstra's limited usage of Whiteside during both the regular season and playoffs, Heat President Pat Riley said at season's end, "There has to be an intervention and I'm going to be the intervener. That's real."
Riley subsequently dialed back the verbiage after last month's NBA draft, noting, "You move on and you make the best of it. I think that's where we are right now."
Then, amid ongoing speculation about the team attempting to deal Whiteside this offseason, Spoelstra on Wednesday attempted to paint perceived differences as a non-issue.
"Like many things in this league," he said, "it's not what it seems on the outside. It's pretty normal NBA life. I'm looking forward to the start of the season with a healthy Hassan. I know he's looking forward to that. And we still have a good part of the summer to get better."
Internal improvement was the focus of most of Spoelstra's comments.
Even as others in the Eastern Conference have bolstered their rosters _ with the Heat having yet to make a single offseason free-agency addition, as well as having no draft pick in either round last month _ Spoelstra said getting Whiteside, Dion Waiters, James Johnson and Rodney McGruder back from 2017-18 ailments, as well as injecting Bam Adebayo and Derrick Jones Jr. further into the mix, gives the Heat hope for continuing strides.
"We have great opportunities for internal growth," he said. "We think the continuity and the corporate knowledge we bring from one season to another can really help. What we're seeing is a lot of turnover every single offseason with a lot of teams. That's not the easiest thing to manage. We bring some familiarity, which we think can be a help.?"
