After Battling Years Of Depression, Dion Waiters Wants Another Chance To Play In The NBA

Over 10 years ago, Dion Waiters was drafted to play in the NBA, a dream many kids have growing up. He was a No. 4 pick and made it to the league! Yet, he hasn’t played an NBA game in over three years and is now attempting to return.

In an exclusive interview with Bleacher Report, Waiters told the media outlet why he is out of the league and his goal to become an NBA player again.

He was recently in Las Vegas at Victoria Fertitta Middle School to work out in front of several NBA scouts and executives to showcase his skills in hopes of landing with a team. His agent, Daniel Hazan of Hazan Sports Management, arranged the exhibition.

The last time Waiters was on the hardwood floor for the NBA was in 2020. He was suspended on three different occasions within months. After making a stink about his role on social media, the Heat suspended him for the season opener. Less than a month later, he was suspended for a second time, this time for a total of 10 games after consuming THC-infused edibles that led him to have a panic attack on the team plane. The last straw was when he was suspended for six games after posting a picture celebrating his birthday after he called out sick. The team traded him to the Memphis Grizzlies, where that team eventually waived him.

Out of the league, he suffered depression and anxiety and coped with it over the last few years. Now, he feels he is in a better place and wants a chance to play again.

He tells Bleacher Report that he was driven to make this comeback because of his son.

“My 10-year-old son (Dion Waiters Jr.). He’s Lil Philly Cheese Jr. He would ask every day, ‘Dad, why you’re not playing? You’re better than a lot of those guys. You can help a team.’

“Those were questions that were hard to listen to. I finally had to tell him the honest truth. I said, ‘I’m not playing because of my attitude, my character, and not being a professional.’ And I explained that being a professional also meant biting your tongue and not always saying what’s on your mind. You know that’s what I did, and see where I’m at. But it took for me to sit my ass down to understand that basketball keeps going with or without you.”

He regrets his actions while playing with the Heat, which made him unable to play anymore.

“That last year with the Miami Heat and just understanding what was going on in that situation. I was so irresponsible and immature. I let the Heat down. They were good to me. I did not handle it well at all.

“The things that were going on were avoidable. If I had just shut the hell up and let my agent handle a lot of that stuff. And if I did that, we wouldn’t even be here today. I’d still be playing. Everything happens for a reason. I looked myself in the mirror already, bro. I read my rights, I read my wrongs, and now I just got to keep pushing, moving forward, and living with the results.”

And now that he has completed the workout, it is time to see if there is any interest among the scouts who attended the workout.