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Hassan Whiteside’s Giddy Visit to the Zoo Pretty Much Sums Up the Day for NBA's Free Agents

Hassan Whiteside not only represents his fellow uber-giddy NBA players who cashed in way bigger than anticipated—including Mosgov, Dellavedova, Solomon Hill, Chandler Parsons, etc. etc.—but also kid in all of us.

Today's NBA free agency period has been koo-koo kabutts crazy. You can owe it to a sweet $24 billion deal the league carved out with Turner Broadcasting and Disney, but basically, every team's salary cap just jumped exponentially. And what that means is that some random ass ballers are getting bankrolled in the free agency period. Including, but not limited to, a certain Hassan Whiteside.

The 27-year-old, 7-foot center, known for his shot-blocking, was signed by the Heat (for whom he's played since 2014) to the tune of $100 million for the next four years. Not a bad deal for someone who ranks 18th on ESPN's NBA Real Plus-Minus from last season. So what did the man do to celebrate? Well, first, he announced the decision by playing some Will Smith, as one does. Then—duh—he headed to the motherfucking zoo to holler at some animals.

It's a delightful outing for Whiteside, who is seemingly now tight enough with the world's fauna to call each of them "buddy." You can also catch him doing some more Will Smith business with his Peacocks Fresh Prince reference, eating soft-serve ice cream like a champ, approaching fans like they're the celebrities, and challenging Giraffes at the rim. Hassan Whiteside not only represents his fellow uber-giddy NBA players who cashed in way bigger than anticipated—including Mosgov, Dellavedova, Solomon Hill, Chandler Parsons, etc. etc.—but also the kid in all of us. "How your mom," indeed.