ATLANTA _ From the start of training camp until his suspension for the season opener for what the Miami Heat at the time termed "conduct detrimental to the team," Dion Waiters' conditioning was not cited as a reason for his limited role.
Now, with Waiters reinstated but away from the team, that has changed.
"He's getting there. He will," coach Erik Spoelstra said Thursday of whether Waiters has met his required team conditioning standards.
The Heat banished forward James Johnson from training camp on the Sept. 30 eve of those sessions at Kaiser University in West Palm Beach, with Johnson only recently reinstated. There was no similar action at the time with Waiters, who had posted on social media during the offseason about his commitment to conditioning.
"He met enough to start camp," Spoelstra said Thursday ahead of his team's game against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena, with Waiters remaining behind in South Florida.
The Heat have not made Waiters available for comment since his suspension was put into place on Oct. 19.
It remains unclear when Waiters will make his season debut, with the Heat next playing Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena against the Houston Rockets. Waiters is expected to practice with the team Saturday, as he did Wednesday, in his return to practice.
"He's getting better," Spoelstra said. "He's working and we'll continue to reevaluate. We'll evaluate him every day and then figure out the next step of reincorporating him into the team."
Waiters has a $1.2 million bonus this season for appearing in at least 70 games of the 82-game schedule. Thursday marked his fifth missed game. He has missed out on the bonus during each of the previous two seasons of the four-year, $52 million contract he signed in the 2017 offseason while coming off a serious ankle injury.
Except for Waiters' one-game suspension, both Waiters and Johnson have received their full salaries this season.
Spoelstra was asked about the Heat's unique conditioning culture ahead of Thursday's game.
"We believe in ours," he said. "We don't think it's better or worse or anything in between of anybody else's. It's what we believe in. So we know what we stand for. There's other really good cultures that are totally different than us."
