Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard wants to get one thing straight: center Hassan Whiteside is a “good dude” and not a locker room cancer.

Lillard is trying to help Whiteside become the best version of himself. Whiteside was ripped on national television by the TNT halftime crew on Thursday. Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley went after Whiteside, but Lillard is here to let everyone know that Whiteside is working as hard as he can and doesn’t cause trouble in the locker room.

“He’s been good. And that’s the thing — he’s a really good dude, a good teammate, he don’t cause trouble,” Lillard said, via Jason Quick of The Athletic. “It’s literally about him understanding ‘What am I doing that’s really impacting winning?’ That’s what it is. His points and rebounds are big, but just continue to improve. We all can do stuff better, and for him right now, you just can’t throw too much at him all at once.”

The Blazers are off to a slow start to the season, sitting at 3-6 through nine games. Whiteside is averaging 14.1 points and 13.3 rebounds while shooting 56.8 percent from the field.

As the season moves along, one would expect for Lillard and Whiteside to get more comfortable on the court.