Dion Waiters came into the NBA regarded as a bucket-getter who could score points at will.
His golden moment was when he and Tim Hardaway Jr. had a showdown during the 2014 Rising Stars Game.
Now he is out of the NBA at 31 years old.
Waiters is confident he is not with any team because he is not playable. He believes it is because of his attitude, which started during his time with the Miami Heat.
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The 6'3 guard believes that his Heat stint was when he was at his peak, but he wasted it by not letting his agent take over his off-court issues.
"I was so irresponsible and immature," he said in an interview with the Bleacher Report.
"I let the Heat down. They were good to me. I did not handle it well at all."
The Heat organization suspended Waiters in at least three instances, all happening in just one year.
Attitude over talent
Waiters said in the same interview that all along, he has been suffering from depression, and he used the times he could not get to the NBA to improve himself.
For him, he is talented enough to be in any NBA team, but that is not the lone weapon one needs to stay in the league. His story is what he considers a testament to that.
He had to explain to his son why he was not playing.
"I told him, 'Bro, your dad is not [out of] the league because of talent. It was my attitude, my character, and not understanding that it's bigger than me," he said.
"I feel like I had to go through this so I could explain that to my son, and that's the dead truth."
Right now, Waiters is working his way back to the NBA. The interview with B/R was staged moments after his private workout at Victoria Fertitta Middle School in front of NBA scouts and executives.
He said having to play in a junior high school to reach the NBA again is a humbling experience.
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