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NBA Star Has $50K Rifle Stolen from Unlocked Rolls-Royce

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Hassan Whiteside of the Miami Heat learned a valuable lesson this summer: Don’t leave your $400,000 Rolls Royce unlocked in downtown Miami.

That seems pretty obvious, but Whiteside didn’t abide by that rule and was the victim of theft in July.

Fortunately for him, his vehicle wasn’t the thing that was stolen. Instead, a rifle that he had in the car was taken.

The Heat center bought a $50,000 Colt M16 right after the Fourth of July in addition to ammunition, a rifle bag and silencer, according to Slater Scoops. Whiteside placed the items in his Rolls Royce and then went back into the store before later driving off to work out at the University of Miami in Coral Gables.

The next day, Whiteside noticed that the weapon was missing and assumed it was stolen while he was working out. But surveillance footage showed that only he entered the vehicle while on Miami’s campus.

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It was then determined that the gun was stolen when Whiteside went back into the gun store after purchasing the weapon and placing it in his vehicle.

The Rolls Royce was unlocked at the time.

Roughly two-and-a-half weeks later, the items were found in a stolen vehicle in North Miami.

After the M16 was stolen and then recovered, Whiteside released a statement via the Miami Herald acknowledging that he didn’t secure it within his vehicle:

“I have a license for the gun that was stolen from me over the summer. I should have secured it better and I’m glad it was recovered. It won’t happen again. It is now locked in a safe and I only use it at the gun range.”

A team spokesman said Whiteside did not violate any team rules, according to the Herald.

Whiteside has posted pictures and videos on social media of himself at a shooting range. He made it clear that he was the owner of the gun in use, a Colt MK18.

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The M16 incident doesn’t appear to have affected Whiteside’s on-court play, nor did the trade rumors surrounding him from this past summer.

Whiteside is leading the NBA in blocks per game while ranking second in rebounds per game. He also leads the league in defensive rating, although the Heat have struggled to a 6-9 record.

He narrowly missed a triple-double last week in a game against the Spurs. Whiteside had 29 points, 20 rebounds and nine blocks in the home win.

Since the 2014-15 season, there have been five triple-doubles in the NBA in which a player had at least 10 blocks. Whiteside has four out of those five, with Anthony Davis having the other.

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Ross Kelly has been a sportswriter since 2009.
Ross Kelly has been a sportswriter since 2009 and previously worked for ESPN, CBS and STATS Inc. A native of Louisiana, Ross now resides in Houston.
Location
Houston, Texas
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English
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Sports




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