Hassan Whiteside recalled when Joe Johnson shocked the entire Heat team: "Coach Spo was like, 'How do you do that?'"

When fans think about the Miami Heat, the natural assumption is that their strongest era came during the days of their iconic Big Three with Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James.

However, according to Hassan Whiteside, their 2015-16 team was also a powerhouse in its own right. For instance, he once revealed how easily veterans like Joe Johnson amazed the entire team and the coaching staff by taking over at will and leaving everyone speechless with their versatile gameplay.

Johnson made an impact on the Heat in his short stint

Joe joined the Heat midway through the 2015-16 season after parting ways with the Brooklyn Nets. Despite the transition taking place late in the year, he managed to fit into Miami’s system almost immediately. In just 24 regular-season appearances, he averaged a really solid 13.4 points per game. Moreover, as the Heat advanced into the playoffs, Johnson gave his all, averaging 12.1 points over 14 appearances, showcasing that even at the age of 35, he had the capability to be a solid two-way role player.

For Whiteside, who was still developing into a dominant big man at that time, witnessing Johnson’s performance was like an eye-opener. He admitted that there were stretches when the team’s best offensive players found it almost impossible to contribute to the scoring load simply because the opposition’s defense was too suffocating and in those moments, Johnson took charge in such a dominant manner that he, along with coach Erik Spoelstra, was completely awestruck.

“2016 was the most talent I’ve had on any team. You gotta think, we got Iso Joe, if you really wanna challenge yourself defensively, like literally I tell people you can’t steal the ball from him. He would throw between his legs, some reason, when you reach, like his shoulder… I don’t understand… It’s pretty crazy,” Whitesaid said. “So, we play the King, they pressing us, they pressing us. Kings is beating us by 15. They’re pressing us full court. D-Wade? Trap him. Goran? Trap him. So Coach Spo put Joe Johnson in the game. When I tell you, Joe Johnson was dribbling one baseline to the other baseline in slow motion, Coach Spo was like, ‘How do you do that?'”

Johnson was a highly underrated talent

Johnson’s reputation was built during his prime years with the Atlanta Hawks, where he earned six consecutive All-Star selections and his lone spot on the All-NBA Third Team.

Additionally, considering that during that run, he averaged as much as 25.0 points per game in a peak season, as well as guarded some of the league’s best perimeter scorers efficiently, that balance of versatility and composure earned him the reputation of being a solid two-way forward.

But even in his later years, “Iso Joe” made himself so valuable by using the same grit and grind mindset. For players like Whiteside, who admitted he never realized how skilled and commanding Johnson truly was, witnessing his game firsthand during that season was nothing short of a revelation.

Put simply, it wasn’t just the numbers; it was the way Johnson made the game look so simple, reading defenses effortlessly and scoring in the flow of the offense without forcing anything that gave Miami a different edge.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Oct 19, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Hassan Whiteside recalled when Joe Johnson shocked the entire Heat team: “Coach Spo was like, ‘How do you do that?'”

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