Suspended Waiters still working after outburst
Social media posts questioning Spoelstra have been deleted
MIAMI — The one-game suspension of Dion Waiters imposed Saturday by the Miami Heat might not be as limited as initially announced.
In the wake of Waiters being suspended for Wednesday’s season opener against the visiting Memphis Grizzlies for “conduct detrimental to the team,” Waiters took to social media to question the coaching of Erik Spoelstra as well as a post regarding the abilities of rookie Tyler Herro.
Waiters since deleted both posts, but they were noticed by team officials who on Monday declined to address whether there could be additional consequences.
“I talked to Dion,” forward James Johnson said after Monday’s practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. “We’re getting out of the little slums, and we just got to go through what we did to ourselves and I think he understands that.”
Like Waiters, Johnson deleted
several posts on social media in the wake of being banished from the team for training camp due to failing to meet the Heat’s conditioning standards.
“He’s been putting in the work even though he hasn’t been here, just constant work,” Johnson said of Waiters. “That’s all you can do, is grind and smile.”
In the wake of his suspension, Waiters posted on his Instagram, “Eventually the truth will come to the light.”
Waiters’ account also responded elsewhere to an Instagram post with, “I would win if I had Bron & Wade plus Bosh.” That was in reference to Spoelstra coaching the Heat to four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals and 2012 and ’13 titles with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Spoelstra declined to comment Monday on Waiters’ post.
To a comment that read, “Herro as a rookie is far and away better than dion,” Waiters responded by commenting “lol.”
Each game Waiters misses cuts into the possibility of missing out on contractual bonus for appearing in at least 70 games, one he has failed to make in the first two seasons of his fouryear, $52 million contract.
An additional sanction would further cut into the opportunity to achieve that $1.2 million bonus.
Even if reinstated, it is unclear where Waiters would fall in the rotation. As it is, it does not sound as if Johnson will be in the initial rotation if cleared to return to uniform for the opener.
“I think we’re pretty clear on the main guys that are playing,” Spoelstra said.
Through it all, Spoelstra downplayed the team’s preseason drama.
“I thought it was a good preseason,” he said. “We really covered a lot of ground, in three weeks. Everybody in this gym feels like we’re ready to start. Does that mean we have everything installed and we’re in midseason form? No, but nobody else is either.
“Usually in preseason there’s a lot of guys out and guys missing games. For the most part, I felt like we had a pretty solid contingent of our rotation available.”
So far, the only direct comment on Waiters has been a statement from Heat President Pat Riley issued late Saturday that read, “There were a number of unacceptable incidents this week, culminating with his unprofessional conduct on the bench last night. As a consequence, I feel we had to suspend him.”
According to a source familiar with the situation, Waiters got into it with Spoelstra during Friday night’s exhibition loss to the Houston Rockets, when Waiters, utilized as a reserve for the fourth time in as many preseason appearances, played only 10:21.
Johnson said Waiters has continued to work amid the absence, with the sanction, at the moment, allowing Waiters to return to team activities on Thursday.
To this point, it appears as if the roster has remained connected.
“I spoke to Dion [Saturday] night,” Heat captain Udonis Haslem said. “I’m gonna continue to speak to these guys. When JJ was going through his [banishment], I spoke with him. I’m gonna continue to be here for these guys.”