During a recent appearance on The OGs podcast with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller, Whiteside recalled his first encounter with Riley back in 2014 when he was a journeyman trying to prove he was worthy of being on the team. What followed was a workout Whiteside described as the most intense of his life — and the most bizarre.
"Pat Riley personally came out on the court and worked me out," Whiteside shared, still sounding incredulous a decade later. "The hardest workout of my life! Like, literally. Still till this day."
Imagine it: Riley, ever the icon, striding onto the court suited up, hair slicked back, collared shirt crisp. No gym gear, just pure Riley intensity.
"I'm literally at the point I'm going to black out before I stop this workout," Whiteside confessed, recalling how Riley had him doing full-court dunks over and over.
But that wasn't the weird part.
"He was like, 'Lick your hand and touch as high as you can on the backboard,'" Whiteside said, his tone a mix of amusement and disbelief. "I'm licking my hand, touching the backboard, licking my hand — I'm like, 'I'm getting all kinds of germs from this backboard.' But listen, we got to get it."
Hmmm. Is that hand-licking ritual also how Riley keeps his hair so perfectly slicked back? Just putting it out there.
Miller and Haslem, both former Miami Heat players and seasoned vets of Riley's ways, quickly jumped in to explain what it all meant. It wasn't just a workout. It was a test of mental and physical endurance.
"One thing about Coach Riley, man, he just wanted to see if he could break you," Miller said, a nod to Riley's love for mental toughness.
"He knew the talent was there. He just wanted to see you mentally," added Haslem.
Despite the germs and the grind, Whiteside passed the test. The Heat signed him that season, and he quickly silenced the doubters, rising from a G League player to an NBA force to be reckoned with.
But his success in Miami was fleeting. He never reached those same heights again, and two years after the Heat traded him to Portland in 2019, he retired.
Still, even after ten years, the memory of the hand-licking, full-court dunking workout remains vivid — a testament to Riley's unique hold on Miami Heat culture.
