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The Miami Heat recently suspended guard Dion Waiters 10 games for what was called “conduct detrimental to the team” after reports of an incident involving a marijuana edible on the team plane.
It ended days of reporting and speculation about just what happened with the NBA veteran on that plane as everyone is piecing together reports about the incident that was considering detrimental conduct.
Here are some questions you might have and as many answers as we’ve gotten in the last few days about what exactly happened:
Who is Dion Waiters?
He’s a 27-year-old shooting guard for the Miami Heat who has averaged 13.2 points per game in a seven-year career after he was drafted out of Syracuse by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the fourth overall pick in 2012.
And what’s this now about marijuana edibles?
Well, marijuana is a substance that —
No no, what does that have to do with Waiters?
Oh, okay! There was a report on Friday from a Fox Sports radio host Andy Slater that a Heat player had a “medical emergency” on their flight out of Phoenix:
SLATER SCOOP: A Miami Heat player had a medical emergency on their flight from Phoenix to Los Angeles on Thursday night, according to sources.
A Heat spokesman told me the team cannot comment due to medical confidentially laws.
— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) November 8, 2019
Slater added this:
UPDATE: Dion Waiters is the Heat player who had medical emergency on team plane, I’ve confirmed.
Waiters overdosed on “gummies,” sources say, and was passed out when plane landed.
He had a seizure when he was finally woken up, I’m told.
Waiters was listed out tonight (illness)
— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) November 9, 2019
Did that really happen?!
According to another report from ESPN, Waiters had a “panic attack” after consuming the edible.
Did the Heat confirm that was the case?
Not fully. In a statement that came with the 10-game suspension, the Heat said “Dion’s actions this season (included) the very scary situation on Thursday night,” and that the team was “grateful that the outcome wasn’t worse.”
They also mentioned there were other actions that were detrimental to the team this year.
Like what?
That might have been a reference to him being suspended for the home opener because of — per a Pat Riley statement via the Sun-Sentinel — “unprofessional conduct on the bench” during a preseason game.
Where did he get an edible from?
It’s unclear, but per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Heat believe it came from a teammate, although he won’t say:
The Heat believe Waiters was given the “gummy” by a teammate, but Waiters has been reluctant and has decided not to say who provided it, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Waiters has had a tumultuous series of events with Miami this season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 10, 2019
How costly was this suspension?
Extremely:
The suspension means Waiters will miss out on his $1.2 million bonus for appearing in at least 70 games, missing out for the third time in as many seasons since signing his four-year, $52 million Heat free-agent contract during the 2017 offseason. https://t.co/XBwXSxRBLN
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) November 10, 2019
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