With Waiters back at practice, here’s a look at the twists and turns of the Waiters saga
Dion Waiters is back with the Heat.
With Waiters’ third team-issued suspension ending at the conclusion of Monday’s home win against the Jazz, the 28-year-old returned to practice Thursday. The Heat was off Tuesday and Wednesday.
Waiters was a full participant in Thursday’s practice and will be available for Friday’s matchup against the Pacers at AmericanAirlines Arena. But being available doesn’t mean he’ll play, with Waiters already appearing on the inactive list for 26 of the Heat’s first 30 games of the season.
Between the three suspensions, Waiters has been suspended for 17 games this season. He has yet to play this regular season and has been active for just four games.
Waiters’ latest suspension, which lasted six games, was “without pay for his failure to adhere to team policies, violation of team rules and continued insubordination.”
“Just leave those things behind. It’s over,” Heat guard Goran Dragic said Thursday of his advice to Waiters. “You can’t change it. The only thing you can do now is focus on yourself and your future. Just come in and be ready each day. Work hard, and only good things are going to happen.”
Waiters apologized to the team when he returned from his second suspension, but there was no apology on Thursday.
“We all know who Dion is and we all know he comes from a good place,” Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. said. “We’re just ready to get back to business and ready to get Dion back on the floor with us.”
Although parting ways would seem to make sense for the Heat and Waiters at this point, there’s no clear way to get that done at the moment. For example, it would take an agreement between Waiters and the Heat to keep him away from the team while still being paid, and no such agreement is in place.
How did Waiters get to this point?
Playing off the bench
Waiters’ first suspension was for one game for the Oct. 23 season opener against the Grizzlies, for what the team called unprofessional conduct — including complaining on the bench during the Heat’s preseason finale and refusing to do one mandatory weigh-in.
“There were a number of unacceptable incidents this week, culminating with his unprofessional conduct on the bench last night,” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement issued by the team when the one-game punishment was announced. “As a consequence, I feel we had to suspend him.”
According to a source, there was a disagreement between Waiters and coach Erik Spoelstra on the bench during the Heat’s Oct. 18 preseason finale against the Rockets. Waiters finished with two points, two rebounds and one assist in 10 minutes as a reserve against Houston, with nine players logging more minutes than him in the game.
Waiters played off the bench in each of the four preseason games he appeared in, but he made it clear that he wanted to be a starter. Spoelstra was non-committal about that for the entire preseason.
Hours after news of Waiters’ first suspension surfaced, he posted on his Instagram story: “Eventually the truth will come to the light.” Waiters’ account also responded elsewhere to an Instagram post with, “I would win to if I had Bron & wade plus bosh,” in reference to Spoelstra’s success coaching LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh during the Heat’s Big 3 era.
To a comment that read, “Herro as a rookie is far and away better than dion,” Waiters responded by commenting “lol.”
The 10-game suspension
Waiters’ second suspension was for 10 games for conduct detrimental to the team, and it ended with the Heat’s Nov. 29 home game against the Warriors.
The 10-game suspension was related to a series of events involving Waiters that began with complaining about playing time in the preseason, continued with his social media shots at Spoelstra and Herro, and it culminated with an alarming medical situation involving Waiters on the Heat’s flight from Phoenix to Los Angeles on the night of Nov. 7, a source told the Miami Herald.
The medical situation on the Heat’s flight from Phoenix to Los Angeles was reportedly due to Waiters ingesting a THC-infused gummy.
“We are very disappointed in Dion’s actions this season that include the very scary situation on Thursday night, and grateful that the outcome wasn’t worse,” the Heat said in a statement issued when the 10-game suspension was announced.
“There have been a number of instances this season in which Dion has engaged in conduct detrimental to the team. Accordingly, he will be suspended without pay for 10 games. ...
“We are proud of how our players have started the season. We expect all of our players, including Dion, to conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards, and to show professionalism and respect for their teammates, the team, the fans and the NBA community.”
The apology
In a statement issued by the Heat on Nov. 30 after Waiters completed his 10-game suspension, Waiters apologized to the organization and fans: “I would like to apologize to my teammates, coaches, basketball staff, the fans and the entire organization for the incident that happened on the team plane. I was wrong and take responsibility for what happened and am sorry for what it put everyone through.
“I am happy to be back with my teammates and am looking forward to getting back on the court playing basketball.”
After Waiters’ public apology, he traveled with the Heat on its three-game trip that began Dec. 1 against the Nets and ended Dec. 4 against the Celtics. He was active for two of the games on that trip, but he did not play.
Waiters then missed the first three games of the Heat’s ensuing homestand, with the team listing him as sick. That’s when the most recent suspension was announced, on the eve of the Heat’s Dec. 13 home matchup against the Lakers.
The third suspension was issued for various issues. But it was partly due to Waiters posting video on Instagram of himself on a boat when he told the team he was unable to practice or play because of an illness, as reported by Fivereasonssports.com and also told to the Herald.
Waiters’ agent, Rich Paul, has declined to comment on the situation.
Waiters has lost about $1.4 million of his $12.1 million salary for this season because of the three suspensions. He also will miss out on the $1.2 million bonus in his contract for appearing in at least 70 of Miami’s 82 games.
Although the possibility of Waiters achieving the bonus has been ruled out, the Heat will not receive $1.2 million in cap relief under the hard cap. Bonuses are not calculated until the end of the season even if the requirements are not met during the season.
The salary Waiters has lost because of the suspensions does not translate into cap relief for the Heat either. Miami still doesn’t have enough space below the $138.9 million hard cap to add a 15th player until 10-day contracts are allowed to be signed Jan. 5.
Waiters, who turned 28 on Dec. 10, is in the third season of a four-year, $52 million contract he signed with the Heat in the summer of 2017. He has been off limits by the Heat for comment since his initial suspension at the beginning of the regular season.
▪ Heat forward Justise Winslow was on the practice court shooting threes following Thursday’s practice, but he was not a full participant in practice. Winslow will miss his 10th consecutive game Friday with a back injury that is now being classified by the team as a lower back bone bruise after a recent MRI.
The injury was labeled as a lower back strain before Thursday’s update.
This story was originally published December 26, 2019 at 3:02 PM.
