Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Former guard Waiters contemplating retirement
A year ago, Dion Waiters was coming off his third Miami Heat suspension of the season for insubordination, deeply buried in Erik Spoelstra’s doghouse. From that exile, he emerged with a Los Angeles Lakers 2020 championship ring.
Now, as the calendar turns to 2021, the enigmatic former Heat guard, unable to find work in the NBA, indicated he is considering retirement at 29.
“It ain’t anything I’m planning,” Waiters posted on his Instagram feed. “I been contemplating it, though, about retiring. I mean, it’s the politics for me.
“Game-wise, we know what’s up. I just, I can’t do the politics, man. We ain’t going over that well, we ain’t going over that water. I’ll retire before that. I’m 29.”
Waiters was one of several players the Lakers did not offer return contracts, as they remade their roster around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. J.R. Smith, who joined the Lakers with Waiters at midseason in 2019-20, also is currently out of the league.
Waiters received both a share from the Lakers’ playoff pool and a championship ring, despite appearing in only seven regular-season games for the Lakers, and then for only 38 minutes in the Lakers’ playoff run, inactive for all six games of the NBA Finals against the Heat. The Lakers won that series 4-2.
Still at issue is the $1.42 million in lost salary from his three Heat suspensions last season that totaled 17 games. That amount is being held in a grievance escrow account, with a resolution between the Heat and NBA players’ union expected early next year.
Waiters received all of his $12.7 million salary for this season in advance once he was released by the Memphis Grizzlies last February, following his acquisition along with Justise Winslow and
James Johnson from the Heat in exchange for Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill. He then signed with the Lakers after being waived by Memphis.
Waiters appeared in three games for the Heat last season.
What a night
There were several notable numbers from the Heat’s 144-97 loss Tuesday to the Milwaukee Bucks at AmericanAirlines Arena, ahead of the teams’ rematch back at AmericanAirlines Arena on Wednesday:
According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Bucks’ 47-point win tied for the third-largest over a defending conference champion. The two largest instances were a 56-point victory by the Seattle SuperSonics over the Houston Rockets in December 1986 and a 56-point Dallas Mavericks victory over the Golden State Warriors in November 2019.
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said he was not aware of his team setting an NBA record with their 29 3-pointers, breaking the record of 27 set by the Rockets against the Phoenix Suns on April 7, 2019, and there clearly was not a drive for 30. The Bucks’ final 3-point attempt came with 3:30 to play, a conversion by Bryn Forbes.
With 12 Bucks making at least one 3-pointer, it made Milwaukee the first team with a dozen players to convert beyond the arc. The lone Buck not to convert was Giannis Antetokounmpo (0 for 2). Per ESPN, there had been 108 previous instances in NBA history of a team attempting 50 or more threes in a regular-season game, with the Bucks becoming the first to attempt 50 and shoot 50 percent or better on those attempts (.569, 29 of 51). Through it all, it was the first time Antetokounmpo scored in single figures since Dec. 22, 2018, also against the Heat, in a 94-87 Bucks loss.
Limited engagement
While his playing time was limited to 25:01 in Tuesday’s blowout loss, Heat center Bam Adebayo took only seven shots. By comparison, teammate Kendrick Nunn took 17 in 30:48 and backup center Precious Achiuwa eight in 17:38.
“My job is to get my teammates involved,” Adebayo said. “I’m not the type of player that wants to take X amount of shots. It’s one of those things that I got to figure out when to be aggressive, but also just trying to get in a flow.”
Adebayo also has six rebounds, four assists and five turnovers in the loss.