Look on the bright side, Hassan

On Feb. 4, 2012, the Knicks beat the Nets 99-92. The teams had both started the shortened season under .500. The Knicks were 9-15 after the win, but had lost 11 of its last 13 games. The game seemingly meant nothing -- besides crosstown bragging rights -- in the grand scheme of the NBA, especially after the lockout had postponed the opening tip to Christmas Day. There was, however, one statistic that meant something. An unknown player who had bounced from the NBA to the D-League repeatedly scored 25 points, dished out seven assists and corralled five rebounds.Jeremy Lin had finally arrived, and after going on an incredible tear that brought the Knicks back to relevance.In the Harvard product’s twelve starts before the All-Star Break, he averaged 22.5 points and 8.7 assists as Linsanity swept across the nation.

He later suffered a knee injury and became a restricted free agent, at which point he returned to the Houston Rockets. He was later traded after two years of his three-year contract to the Los Angeles Lakers. Although his career has taken a dip, his story was one of opportunity and hard work. So who is this year’s Linsanity?

Look on the bright side, it’s Hassan Whiteside.Whiteside only played one season in college -- at Marshall University -- but definitely made it count, amassing 182 blocked shots, making him the country’s leader for the year. It also set a national record for most blocked shots in a year by a first-year, besting the 177 swats by Brigham Young University’s Shawn Bradley in 1990-91. After just his first season, Whiteside declared for the NBA Draft and was selected with the third pick of the second round by the Sacramento Kings.He only appeared in 19 games in two seasons as a King before being waived in July of 2012. He then bounced around the D-League and played overseas in Lebanon and in China, where he won a championship and was named Finals MVP of the National Basketball League in China.

After a brief stint with the Memphis Grizzlies and then more time in the D-League, Whiteside signed with the Miami Heat on Nov. 24, 2014.Then on Jan. 4, he posted a double-double against the Nets, of all teams. It took him only three weeks to have his first triple-double, posting 14 points, 13 rebounds and a franchise-record 12 blocks against the Chicago Bulls. It makes him just the fourth player in the last 25 years to have twelve or more points, rebounds and blocks in a game.

Although Whiteside’s emergence has not been as widely followed in the media as Lin's, his is just as impressive and is a story of perseverance throughout the basketball world. Whiteside, however, has had some disciplinary issues on the court. He was ejected for the second half of the Heat’s win over the Phoenix Suns on March 2 for literally fighting Suns’ center Alex Len. A second instance came on Monday, when he was ejected for shoving his forearm into the back of Celtics’ center Kelly Olynyk’s neck. He was subsequently suspended for last night’s game against the Nets. With Chris Bosh and Josh McRoberts out for the rest of the season, the Heat needs Whiteside to be a productive and smart player. Longtime guard Dwyane Wade has expressed his distaste for Whiteside’s recent actions and has pushed him to become a more responsible player.

Whiteside and Lin have had similar journeys to short-lived outbursts and stardom, but both find themselves struggling at the moment. Bringing out the magic might help. But both of them know it takes much more work than that.