MILWAUKEE _ In Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters' return from a year-long absence while recovering from ankle surgery, the word patience has been thrown around a lot by coach Erik Spoelstra and Waiters himself.
Following Tuesday night's 124-86 loss in Milwaukee to the Bucks, with Waiters playing just 12 minutes mostly in garbage time in the Heat's most lopsided defeat of the season, it was clear Waiters has had enough with the idea of patience.
"F--- patience," Waiters said after the game in the visitors' locker room in Milwaukee. "I want to play. I've been patient."
Waiters finished with two points on 1-of-4 shooting Tuesday. At first, he was out of the Heat's 10-man rotation through the end of the first quarter, but came in as the team's 11th man in the second. He played only 4:14 in the first half.
"I ain't say nothing to nobody. I've been patient long enough," he continued. "What I got to be patient for? Come on, man. Yeah, if I'm out there, play me right now."
Waiters, who underwent surgery in January of 2018, returned to action on Jan. 2, a road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was held out of the Heat's next two games before playing 24 minutes against the Denver Nuggets last Tuesday. He then played 20 minutes against the Boston Celtics on Thursday before being limited to under 10 minutes against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
On the next step for Waiters, he said, "Get back to my regular self, get me back in the starting lineup, s--- like that. That's what it is. You all know what it is. F---, I'm tired of this. I'm being patient right now."
Waiters walked off following the explosive comments.
Waiters first joined the Heat in 2016-17. The former No. 4 draft pick in 2012 by Cleveland averaged 15.8 points that season in 46 games for the Heat before missing most of last season.
Waiters is making $12.7 million this season and is under contract until the summer of 2021, earning $13.3 million next year and $13.8 million the following season.
