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Last night, Dion Waiters punked the Warriors to the tune of 33 points, six three-pointers, a game winning shot with .6 seconds left, and one memorable-as-hell pose.
Waiters has long been the butt of some (well-deserved) jokes. The 4th pick in the infamous 2012 draft (Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Draymond Green, etc), Waiters never had a problem, um, letting people know that he thought he was good at basketball. However, things didn’t work out between him, Kyrie Irving, and the incoming LeBron James, and in January, 2015, he was traded to Oklahoma City in a three team trade that landed the Cavaliers J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert.
Things, again, did not quite pan out in OKC. Waiter’s biggest contribution to the cause was this infamous no-call in the San Antonio series of last year’s playoffs.
This was not called and … uh that’s definitely not legal. https://t.co/b9kCwPuIlV https://t.co/R1EHEMcIa9
— SB Nation NBA (@SBNationNBA) May 3, 2016
After the season (side note: man, I’m just now remembering how much I loved the Western Conference Finals. Game 7, coming back from down 3-1. Straight chills. It’s easy to forget sometimes, because the pain from the Finals is still so real. Anyways ...), the Thunder let him walk, and he signed as a free agent with Miami.
It’s been a strange year down in South Beach. All-time great Dwyane Wade is now back home in Chicago. Chris Bosh has been sidelined indefinitely with scary health concerns. After appearing in four straight Finals during the LeBron years, Miami now is a team scraping the bottom of the Eastern Conference, trying to find their groove.
Does that groove look like this?
May I ever believe in myself about anything as much as Dion Waiters believes in himself about everything pic.twitter.com/LayaSuVgtD
— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) January 24, 2017
Of course, the moment immediately went viral because this is 20-frickin-17 and anything noteworthy needs to be photoshopped into oblivion so that we can forget the actual news. Who needs sanity and rationality when you have sunglasses, fleeting jokes, and late-night puns?
@World_Wide_Wob pic.twitter.com/jltON4aGXH
— Michael Fuentes (@mikefountains) January 24, 2017
BREAKING:
— Hooping Heaven (@HoopingHeaven) January 24, 2017
Kevin Durant joins the Miami Heat to form a new super team with Dion Waiters. pic.twitter.com/qOn19uNZnW
I especially liked this one:
Dion Waiters like.... pic.twitter.com/tiU9H7ZVgs
— McNeil (@Reflog_18) January 24, 2017
It was Waiters’ second straight game scoring 33 points. He is still young (just turned 25), and apparently has free reign on this tanking Miami squad. Waiters Island has long been a running joke, with a few people still firmly entrenched, dug in, and ready for hurricane season.
For the Warriors, what’s done is done. Perhaps Durant summed it up best:
Kevin Durant: "If anyone would hit a game-winner against me, it would be Dion Waiters." pic.twitter.com/m4zWqt3kkl
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 24, 2017
Kevin Durant said Dion Waiters "gave me a little wink" after the 3. "F'ing sucks seeing it go through the rim" (NSFW) pic.twitter.com/onemdmmeAY
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 24, 2017
The Warriors continue their southern swing, as they fly to Stephen Curry’s hometown of Charlotte to take on the Hornets tomorrow night. Let’s just hope Kemba Walker doesn’t get jealous of Waiters’ moment and try and do something equally as heroic.