Hassan Whiteside sent home from team after being ejected for elbowing a Spurs' player in the face

Mike Ehrmann/Getty

Hassan Whiteside was ejected midway through the 4th quarter of the Heat's Tuesday night loss to the San Antonio Spurs for elbowing Spurs' center Boban Marjanovic in the face out of apparent frustration.

By the time the game ended and the Miami players returned the the locker room, Whiteside had reportedly already left the arena, having been sent home early from the team prior to the All-Star break.

Here's the play:

RAW Embed

The refs reviewed the play for a while, despite the fact that replay showed definitively that Whiteside's elbow was intentional. Here's Whiteside reacting:

RAW Embed

During his season and a half with the Heat, Whiteside has proved to be a talented but hot-headed big man.  He was ejected multiple times last year, most notably for fighting Alex Len, and for cheap-shotting Kelly Olynyk. He's also been known to get into it on Twitter with other NBA players, including Draymond Green. 

This season, stats have shown the Heat are better when Whiteside is on the bench, even though Whiteside is averaging 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 3.9 blocks per game. On a podcast with Zach Lowe, ESPN's Brian Windhorst said that the Heat don't think Whiteside is a good fit with their franchise.

All of this, combined with the fact that he was sent home early on Tuesday night after yet another ejection, seem to suggest pretty clearly that Whiteside's days in Miami are numbered. The trade deadline is February 18.

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