Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘I don’t know what’s going on’
Waiters vents on stalled return to Heat rotation, games on the bench
MIAMI — Dion Waiters appreciated that patience would be required in his return from a yearlong absence.
He just thought it would mean small steps on the road back from last January’s ankle surgery, instead of being stopped in his tracks after the first game of his return.
After playing 11 minutes in last Wednesday’s season debut in the road victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Waiters has been held out of the past two games by coach Erik Spoelstra, Friday night’s victory over the Washington Wizards at AmericanAirlines Arena and Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena.
The initial impression was of being brought along steadily, based on the boost he provided in the victory over the Cavaliers.
“Of course I envisioned that,” he said. “You come back, you work your way slow and steadily. You keep increasing the minutes, at the end of the day. I don’t know what’s going on, so I can’t tell you.”
Waiters’ return came with Dwyane Wade sidelined by a stomach ailment. With Wade back, the rotation has reverted to Wade as the first guard off the bench, Tyler Johnson as the second guard and Derrick Jones Jr. rounding out the second-unit wing rotation.
Waiters said he initially turned toward Spoelstra during games when substitutions were impending.
“I did the first two games,” he said, “but after that, I just let it be what it is.”
What it is is something that has grown confounding, in light of the work put in to make it back to the active roster.
“I can’t get down,” Waiters said. “I mean, I worked hard to get back and whenever that time comes, I guess it comes.”
It could come as soon as Tuesday’s game against the Denver Nuggets at the start of a three-game homestand, especially in light of the Heat’s season-worst offensive performance in the 106-82 loss in Atlanta, when the Heat shot .356.
“Of course you want to play,” he said. “You didn’t bust your ass getting back. You want to play. You go out there and help the team, especially knowing I can in whatever minutes I play.”
With the Heat limited to 16 points in the first quarter in Atlanta and 21 in the second, there was some question about whether Waiters could enter cold so late in a game.
“I feel as though I can do that,” he said. “I’m never going to tell myself I can’t. I think that’s how it’s got to be. I don’t know, man. Whatever happens, happens. So I’ve just got to stay ready.”
Caught in the middle of his own waiting game, veteran guard Wayne Ellington, a fellow Philadelphia native, said he has reassured Waiters.
“Of course. We talk,” Ellington said. “That situation is a little different, obviously. He missed a huge amount of time, so he’s still trying to get back into things. So he’ll be fine, he’ll be all right. That’s what I keep trying to remind him, ‘It’ll be all right.’ ”
But having waited so long, it’s not that simple for Waiters.
“It’s tough,” he said. “I would be lying to you saying if it wasn’t. But at the end of the day, I’ve got to stay ready to play, mentally. I can’t let this type of stuff get me down. And the best part of that is just going home to my kids and they put a smile on my face.”
But it is his game face that Waiters most wants to show.
“I would love to be playing, working my way back in gradually, whatever the case may be, just keep building on that so it doesn’t take too long for me to get back and just keep playing,” he said. “That’s what it’s going to take to get me back, it’s actually play, seeing it more and more, even if we start out small [minutes] and continue to just keep building that load up.”