Dion Waiters makes first appearance for Miami Heat this season
With injuries to Goran Dragic and Kendrick Nunn, the Miami Heat finally found the opportune time to unleash guard Dion Waiters.
Waiters played for the first time this season in the second quarter of Friday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers at AmericanAirlines Arena. He had yet to play after being suspended three times for violating team rules.
Waiters hit two early 3-pointers when he entered the game.
The opportunity arose once Dragic and Nunn were ruled out during pregame. Nunn is dealing with an Achilles issue while Dragic was a late scratch because of calf soreness. The Heat were limited at guard, especially with Justise Winslow missing his 10th straight game due to back problems.
Waiters was the only healthy guard other than Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro. The Heat were also shorthanded because forward Chris Silva was recently sent to the team's G League affiliate in Sioux Falls.
Waiters was suspended on multiple occasions because of his unhappiness about playing time. During the preseason finale, he argued on the bench with coach Erik Spoelstra about minutes. That led to Nunn replacing him in the starting lineup for the season opener against the Memphis Grizzlies.
He was later suspended after overdosing on edible marijuana gummies on the team's flight from Phoenix to Los Angeles in early November. The last suspension occurred when Waiters took a sick day but was photographed on a boat on social-media.
In the interim, the Heat have been unsuccessful in trying to find a trade suitor for Waiters. He has two years left on a four-year, $52-million contract.
