Dion Waiters Jr. (born December 10, 1991) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the

Syracuse Orange The Syracuse Orange are the athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East Conference. The school's mascot is Ott ...

and was selected with the fourth overall pick in the

2012 NBA draft The 2012 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2012, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Asso ...

by the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. Waiters also played for the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

, and the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

, where he won an NBA championship.

Early life

Born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, to Dion Waiters Sr. and Monique Brown, Waiters was raised by his mother, who had him when she was 17; his father was in jail at the time of his birth. Four hours after Waiters was born, his grandmother died. Waiters grew up playing basketball wherever he could, regardless of weather or time of day. Away from basketball, his home life revolved around his mother and stepfather, James Barnes.

High school career

As a freshman, Waiters attended

Bartram High School John Bartram High School is a public secondary school serving neighborhoods of the Southwest Philadelphia area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the School District of Philadelphia. History O ...

and

South Philadelphia High School South Philadelphia High School is a public secondary high school located in the Lower Moyamensing neighborhood of South Philadelphia, at the intersection of Broad Street and Snyder Avenue. The school serves grades 9 through 12 and is part of th ...

in Philadelphia, but did not play basketball at either school. Waiters committed to Syracuse during the summer after his freshman year despite not having played a minute of high school basketball. In his sophomore year of high school, Waiters attended

South Kent School South Kent School, a private all-boys boarding school in South Kent, Connecticut, United States, is located on a campus in western Litchfield County. It is sited on Spooner Hill east of Bull's Bridge, overlooking the former Housatonic Valley ...

. Waiters then played basketball at

Life Center Academy Life Center Academy is a private school located in Burlington in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school is associated with the Fountain of Life Center, an Assemblies of God church. The Headmaster is Matthew Boudwin, w ...

his junior and senior years. Following his senior year, Waiters was ranked as the 15th best overall recruit according to

ESPNU ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the Hears ...

and ranked as the No. 2 best shooting guard in the ESPN 100. Waiters was also ranked as the 29th best overall recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

College career

Freshman season

In his freshman season at Syracuse, Waiters averaged 6.6 points, 1.5 assists and 1.6 rebounds per game. In a second round loss to Marquette in the NCAA Tournament, Waiters shot 8-for-10 with 18 points.

Sophomore season

In his sophomore season at Syracuse, Waiters averaged 12.6 points, 2.5 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game. He was named the Big East Sixth Man of the Year, earned third-team All-Big East honors, was named AP Honorable Mention All-American, and was selected to the All-Big East Tournament team.

Professional career

Cleveland Cavaliers (2012–2015)

Waiters was selected fourth overall in the

by the

despite choosing not to work out for any teams before the draft. This was a choice he made after receiving a promise from a team in the middle of the lottery that they would draft him if available. Many scouts also found it a surprise that Waiters was drafted so high because he did not start in college and played zone defense at Syracuse. On January 14, 2013, Waiters scored a career-high 33 points against the Sacramento Kings, doing so on 12-of-18 shooting. Waiters was selected to play in the

Rising Stars Challenge The Rising Stars Challenge is a basketball exhibition game held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) on the Friday before the annual All-Star Game as part of the All-Star Weekend. The current format to be used in 2022 includes first- and ...

game during 2013 NBA All-Star Weekend, along with teammates

Kyrie Irving Kyrie Andrew Irving (; lkt, Ȟéla, italic=no, ; born March 23, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named the Rookie of the Year after being selected ...

Tristan Thompson Tristan Trevor James Thompson (born March 13, 1991) is a Canadian-American professional basketball player who last played for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won the 2016 NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavali ...

, and

Tyler Zeller Tyler Paul Zeller (born January 17, 1990) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at the University of North Carolina, where as a freshman he played on their 2009 national championship team and as a seni ...

. Waiters came off the bench to score 23 points for Team Shaq. Throughout his rookie season, Waiters both started and came off the bench for the Cavaliers. He was consistently bothered by a sprained ankle and loose cartilage in his knee, forcing him to miss 21 games over the year. After his rookie season, Waiters was graded as the fourth-best overall rookie by NBA.com and placed fifth in

NBA Rookie of the Year The National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the top rookie(s) of the regular season. Initiated following the 1952–53 NBA season, it confers the Eddie Gottl ...

voting with 21 points. On February 14, 2014, Waiters participated in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge. He finished the game with 31 points and 7 assists. On March 18, 2014, Waiters recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 11 assists in a loss to the Miami Heat. On November 5, 2014, Waiters was absent for the U.S. national anthem and was quoted saying that he stayed in the locker room because of his Muslim faith. He later stated that the report about his religious beliefs having anything to do with him skipping the national anthem was entirely false.

Oklahoma City Thunder (2015–2016)

On January 5, 2015, Waiters was traded to the

from the Cavaliers in a three-team trade that also involved the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

. Cleveland received

Iman Shumpert Iman Asante Shumpert ( ; born June 26, 1990) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Shumpert was selected by the New York Knicks with the 17th overall pic ...

and

J. R. Smith Earl Joseph "J. R." Smith III (born September 9, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Smith played high school basketball at New Jers ...

from the Knicks and a first-round pick in the 2015 NBA draft from the Thunder, while Cleveland sent

Lou Amundson Louis Gabriel Amundson ( born December 7, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for UNLV and 12 years professionally, including 10 seasons in the NBA. Early life and college Amundson was born i ...

Alex Kirk Alex Ryan Kirk (born November 14, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Alvark Tokyo of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the University of New Mexico. College career Kirk, a 7'0" center, played at Los Ala ...

, and a second-round pick in the 2019 NBA draft to the Knicks, and the Thunder sent

Lance Thomas Lance Thomas (born April 24, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils where he started at power forward for the national champion 2010 team. High school career Thomas att ...

to the Knicks. After a poor debut for the Thunder against the Sacramento Kings on January 7 where he scored 4 points on 1-of-9 shooting, he scored 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting two days later to help the Thunder defeat the Utah Jazz, 99–94. On April 15, 2015, in the team's final game of the season, Waiters tied his career-high with 33 points in a 138–113 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Waiters garnered a bench role for the Thunder in 2015–16 under new head coach Billy Donovan. He started in just two games for the team over the first half of the season, playing back up to André Roberson. On November 10, 2015, he scored a season-high 25 points in a 125–101 win over the Washington Wizards. With a knee injury to Roberson in late January, Donovan entrusted Waiters with stepping up to a starting role. On January 26, in his first start since November 22, Waiters scored 14 points in a 128–122 overtime win over the New York Knicks. He returned to the bench on February 24 following Roberson's return from injury. On April 6, he tied his season-high with 25 points in a 120–115 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. In Game 2 of the Thunder's semi-final series against the San Antonio Spurs, with San Antonio trailing 98–97 with 13.5 seconds remaining and Oklahoma City out of timeouts, Waiters elbowed Spurs guard

Manu Ginóbili Emanuel David Ginóbili Maccari (, , ; born 28 July 1977) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. Over a 23-year professional career, he became one of only two players (along with Bill Bradley) to have won a EuroLeague title, an ...

to get the space needed to inbound the ball. Following the game, Waiters and the referees were highly scrutinized by the public and media personnel. On June 27, 2016, the Thunder tendered a qualifying offer to make Waiters a

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

. However, on July 18, the Thunder rescinded their qualifying offer, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent.

Miami Heat (2016–2020)

On July 26, 2016, Waiters signed with the

. He made his debut for the Heat in their season opener on October 26 against the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

. In 34 minutes as a starter, he recorded nine points, six rebounds and four assists in a 108–96 win. On November 26, he scored a then season-high 28 points in a 110–107 loss to the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

. Four days later, he was ruled out for two weeks after an MRI revealed he had suffered a Pectineus tear. He returned to action on January 4, 2017 against the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

after missing 20 straight games. On January 21, he tied a career-high with 33 points in a 109–97 win over the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

. Two days later, he made a three-pointer with 0.6 seconds left to cap his second-straight 33-point effort, as he lifted the Heat to a 105–102 win over the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

. He finished the game with six three-pointers on eight attempts. On January 30, 2017, he was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, January 23 through Sunday, January 29. Waiters led the Heat to a 4–0 week as Miami extended its winning streak to seven games. He averaged 23.3 points (tied for eighth in the East), 5.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds. Waiters missed the final 13 games of the season with an ankle injury, as the Heat missed a playoff spot with a ninth-seed finish and a 41–41 record. On July 7, 2017, Waiters re-signed with the Heat. On October 30, 2017, he tied his career high with 33 points in a 125–122 overtime loss to the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

. In January 2018, his long-problematic left ankle forced him to the sidelines indefinitely, and on January 22, he underwent successful surgery to repair instability in the left ankle. A preexisting navicular bone fracture was also repaired. On December 28, 2018, Waiters was sent to Miami's

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

affiliate team, the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...

, for a rehabilitation assignment. On January 2, 2019, he made his return for the Heat, scoring seven points in six minutes in a 117–92 win over the

. It was his first game since December 22, 2017. Far from 100 percent fit, he played the game due to

Dwyane Wade Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. (; born January 17, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Wade spent the majority of his 16-year career playing for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and won three NBA champi ...

being sidelined by a virus. His second game of the season came on January 8, scoring a team-high 15 points in a 103–99 loss to the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

. On October 19, 2019, Waiters was suspended for Miami's 2019–20 season debut game for "conduct detrimental to the team." On November 8, Waiters missed a game against the

due to a

panic attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and discomfort that may include palpitations, sweating, chest pain or chest discomfort, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, numbness, confusion, or a feeling of impending doom or of losing ...

he experienced while flying to the game. His panic attack stemmed from over-consumption of THC-infused edibles. Two days later, the Heat suspended Waiters for 10 games, including the previous game he missed, for the consumed edible. On December 12, the Heat suspended him again, this time for six games, for calling in to work with an illness, then posting a picture of himself on his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

page on a boat celebrating his birthday. On January 24, 2020, Waiters made his season debut scoring 14 points in a 122–117 loss against the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

. On February 6, 2020, Waiters was traded to the

in a three-team trade also involving the

and three days later, he was waived by the Grizzlies.

Los Angeles Lakers (2020)

On March 6, 2020, Waiters signed with the

. On July 30, 2020, he made his Lakers debut in a 103–101 win against the

, scoring 11 points. The Lakers went on to make the

2020 NBA Finals The 2020 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2019–20 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Laker ...

, facing the

. The Lakers beat the Heat in 6 games to give Waiters his first championship.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, 61 , , 48 , , 28.8 , , .412 , , .310 , , .746 , , 2.4 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 14.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 70 , , 24 , , 29.6 , , .433 , , .368 , , .685 , , 2.8 , , 3.0 , , .9 , , .2 , , 15.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 3 , , 23.8 , , .404 , , .256 , , .783 , , 1.7 , , 2.2 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 10.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, 47 , , 20 , , 30.3 , , .392 , , .319 , , .625 , , 2.9 , , 1.9 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 12.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 78 , , 15 , , 27.6 , , .399 , , .358 , , .713 , , 2.6 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, 46 , , 43 , , 30.1 , , .423 , , .395 , , .646 , , 3.3 , , 4.3 , , .9 , , .4 , , 15.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 30 , , 30.6 , , .398 , , .306 , , .739 , , 2.6 , , 3.8 , , .8 , , .3 , , 14.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 44 , , 28 , , 25.9 , , .414 , , .377 , , .500 , , 2.6 , , 2.8 , , .7 , , .2 , , 12.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 0 , , 14.0 , , .385 , , .471 , , .000 , , 3.7 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .7 , , 9.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

L.A. Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

, 7 , , 0 , , 23.6 , , .425 , , .233 , , .875 , , 1.9 , , 2.4 , , .6 , , .6 , , 11.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 419 , , 211 , , 28.2 , , .412 , , .346 , , .694 , , 2.6 , , 2.8 , , .9 , , .3 , , 13.1

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

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, style="text-align:left;",

, 18 , , 0 , , 27.3 , , .417 , , .375 , , .667 , , 2.6 , , 2.3 , , .6 , , .2 , , 8.4 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

† , style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 0 , , 7.6 , , .333 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .4 , , .4 , , .2 , , .2 , , 2.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 23 , , 0 , , 23.0 , , .410 , , .350 , , .688 , , 2.1 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , .2 , , 7.0

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 , style="text-align:left;", Syracuse , 34 , , 0 , , 16.3 , , .411 , , .329 , , .813 , , 1.6 , , 1.5 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;", Syracuse , 37 , , 0 , , 24.1 , , .476 , , .363 , , .729 , , 2.3 , , 2.5 , , 1.8 , , .3 , , 12.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 71 , , 0 , , 20.4 , , .453 , , .348 , , .753 , , 1.9 , , 2.0 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , 9.7

Awards

* Second-team ''Parade'' All-American (2010) * Jordan Brand All-American (2010) * Big East Sixth Man of the Year (2012) * Third-team All-Big East (2012) * Big East All-Tournament Team (2012) * NBA Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month (February 2013) * NBA All-Rookie First Team (2013) * 2× NBA Rising Star (2013, 2014) * NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week (January 23–29, 2017)Dion Waiters becomes Miami Heat's first NBA Player of the Week in a year
/ref> * NBA Champion (2020)

References

External links

Syracuse Orange bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waiters, Dion 1991 births Living people African-American basketball players African-American Muslims American men's basketball players Cleveland Cavaliers draft picks Cleveland Cavaliers players Doping cases in basketball Life Center Academy alumni Los Angeles Lakers players Miami Heat players Oklahoma City Thunder players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Shooting guards South Kent School alumni Syracuse Orange men's basketball players Basketball players from Philadelphia 21st-century African-American sportspeople