Hassan Whiteside’s tribute to Kobe Bryant is really just a tribute to Hassan Whiteside

Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside probably means well with his tribute to Kobe Bryant, who announced on Sunday that this is his final NBA season, but his tweet (that’s really just an image of his original Instagram post) doesn’t really come across that way.

For one, Whiteside is using the hashtag #KobeRetire. That makes it sound like Whiteside is actively rooting for the Lakers legend to retire — and soon.

Oh, and the image isn’t helping out either. This isn’t the most flattering picture of Kobe. If it’s flattering to anyone, it’s Whiteside. After all, he’s the one dunking emphatically as Kobe just stares. Kobe actually looks afraid in this image. But that probably has nothing to do with why Whiteside selected this particular image, right?