Dion Waiters Calls His Suspension a 'Minor Setback'

In the midst of his 10-game suspension, Heat guard Dion Waiters traveled from the beaches of Miami to the frosty frontiers of western New York seeking a little advice. 

Waiters returned to the Carrier Dome on Saturday night, taking in the Orange's 89-67 win over Seattle from behind the scorer's table. The Philadelphia native spent two seasons with Syracuse from 2010 to 2012 and returned to his collegiate home to confer with his former head coach, Jim Boeheim, in the midst of the most tumultuous stretch of his professional career. 

Waiters's current 10-game suspension for "conduct detrimental to the team" stems in part from a November 7 incident on the Miami team plane where he experienced a panic attack brought on by his consumption of a THC-infused edible during a flight from Phoenix to Los Angeles. He received medical treatment upon landing and was suspended by the team on November 10. 

In an interview with Donna Ditota of Syracuse.com, Waiters called his suspension a "minor setback" but said he's staying focused.

"I can only control what I can control at the end of the day, so some things you just can't allow to take your head the other way, some things happen for a reason," he said. "If you stay locked in, if you believe and trust in yourself, trust in the work you put in, you know, it’s a minor setback. It happens. It's life. You learn from it. The only thing I can do is move forward. Stay focused. Stay even-keeled. Let everything else take care of itself."

Waiters said his desire to speak with Boeheim, whose tough love Waiters credits for helping him grow up while in college, was the main purpose of his visit. Waiters spent a few days in western New York, exercising, relaxing and picking his old coach's brain as his professional career sits at a crossroads. 

"I just wanted to come up and talk to coach," he said. "I know that's a person who will always be there for me if I need anything. It's a chance for me to come up, be around, talk to coaches, things like that. And it's important."

Waiters has yet to appear in a game for the Heat this season. He was suspended for Miami's opening game (again for conduct detrimental to the team) for missing part of the preseason due to personal reasons, taking veiled shots at head coach Erik Spoelstra on Instagram, arguing with Spoelstra on the bench during the preseason and commenting "lol" when a fan suggested rookie Tyler Herro may be the better player. In the two games for which Waiters was active this season, he saw his playing time slashed with the emergence of rookie shooting guards Herro and Kendrick Nunn as well as the shift of Justise Winslow to point guard, relegating the eighth-year player to the bench. 

Waiters is in the third season of a four-year, $52 million contract with the Heat. He is slated to make $12.1 million this season and $12.6 million in 2020-21. Still, Waiters described his mental state as "great" and enjoyed his brief respite in Syracuse that found him experiencing something lacking in Miami. 

"It was just to get away, to come around and be around some love," said Waiters. "One thing about Syracuse, whatever you're going through, the love is unconditional."