Dion Waiters is looking to make an NBA comeback and he revealed everything from his playing days, to his struggles and his battle with depression with Chris Haynes.
Waiters recently held a private workout in Las Vegas in front of at least a dozen scouts and executives from NBA teams.
The 2019/20 season was the last time he was in the league and he only played a total of 10 games. The 6’4″ guard got candid about how his downfall in that season with the Miami Heat occurred:
“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.”
After being out of the league, COVID happened and it didn’t really sink in for Waiters at the time that he would have this huge void in his life.
“My first year, I was like still feeling it out. COVID-19 was still going on. It was kind of weird. I felt like I should have gotten right back to training for my return. But honestly, bro, I went through some s–t. Depression, anxiety and just not knowing my future. It got serious, bro. I had to get a therapist. It became overwhelming and too much to bear. I now talk to a therapist every Wednesday.”
The 32-year-old also shared his battle with depression as a result of no longer having basketball in his life.
“I just wasn’t having fun. I had thoughts of not being around, but I’ve got kids. I’d rather be miserable for the rest of my life than to leave my kids without a father. I didn’t want to be around anyone, and everybody was still asking for s–t. I’m a one-man army as far as finances go. I’m the backbone. S–t was dark. Some days, I’d sleep in the bed all day. I had nothing to look forward to. I wasn’t working out. It’s a mental battle.”
Waiters is hungry, humble and feels he’s can provide veteran leadership to a team if he were to have a NBA comeback.
“If you think about it, I went through every phase in the league, bro. I was a top-five pick, a starter, not starting, starter again. I went to Miami and had a good situation, and at the peak of my career, I broke my foot. I’ve been through it all. I would tell the youngsters to stay with it. Come in and work every day, keep your mouth closed, learn how to talk to people, watch a lot of film and just prepare for that moment when your time comes. They’ll eventually throw you out there.”
Waiters is certainly doing everything in his power to achieve his goal of an NBA comeback, let’s see if a team will give him a chance.
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