What a roller-coaster of a season it’s been for Dion Waiters.
For all the struggles and negativity, 2019-20 could end with the veteran guard being a key member of a championship-winning squad, the Los Angeles Lakers, who reportedly signed him for the rest of the year.
Let’s go back. Waiters was suspended for the Miami Heat’s season opening game, with a scathing statement from president Pat Riley in which he said, ““There were a number of unacceptable incidents this week, culminating with his unprofessional conduct on the bench last night.” That may have referred to a preseason confrontation between Waiters and head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Then, there was the longer suspension — 10 games — for “conduct detrimental to the team,” with reports of Waiters having a panic attack on the Heat plane due to ingested marijuana edibles.
He was suspended a third time for six games when, per reports, he told the Heat he was sick and posted an Instagram photo of himself on a boat.
Then, he was part of the Andre Iguodala trade to the Memphis Grizzlies and was waived.
Yet here he is, back with LeBron James — who played with Waiters in Cleveland in 2014-15 — and with a chance to make the kind of impact he’s made in various stops in his career.
It sounds like he’s on a short leash, which seems right:
But it’s also a spot for him to thrive. He doesn’t have to be a huge focal point coming off the bench. What he does have to do is what he’s done for much of his career: hit shots from outside, something he’s done pretty well over the past two seasons.
For his troubles, he could help lead the Lakers to a title and revive his career. What an end to that roller coaster that would be.
