Getty Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters reportedly overdosed on "gummies" candies on the team plane.
The mile-high club just got its newest member. A Miami Heat player reportedly suffered a seizure from ingesting too many edible cannabis products.
Dion Waiters, a South Philadelphia native, was scratched from Friday night’s game after he overdosed on “gummies” candies, a popular cannabis-infused product sold in states where marijuana is legal. The Heat had played a game in marijuana-friendly Denver on Tuesday night. The team was flying to Los Angeles from Phoenix and ruled Waiters out of Friday’s contest against the Lakers due to a “medical emergency.”
According to Andy Slater of FOX Sports 640, Waiters suffered a seizure on the flight home and was unconscious when the plane landed. The guard has now missed the first nine games of the season after being suspended last month for “conduct detrimental to the team.”
“There were a number of unacceptable incidents this week, culminating with his unprofessional conduct on the bench last night,” Heat President Pat Riley told the Sun-Sentinel on Oct. 19. “As a consequence, I feel we had to suspend him.”
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)
Waiters: Battle Tested on the Mean Streets of Philadelphia
Dion Waiters played college basketball at Syracuse University but he originally hails from South Philadelphia.
The 27-year-old has seen and lived it all in his short time on this earth. In 2017, he penned a riveting column for The Players Tribune where he described in detail the trials of his youth, including watching both his mom and dad get shot and his decision to “f***ing ball out” on the playground basketball courts.
Listen, now you know where I’m from. Picture yourself walking into a South Philly playground at 12 years old, with grown-ass men, bleachers packed with people, trying to get a run in.
You think you can survive in Philly without irrational confidence?
You will never in your life hear the words, “I can’t” come out of Dion Waiters’ mouth.
I can. I will. I already did.
In eight NBA seasons, Waiters has averaged 13.2 points per game in 28.4 minutes while making stops in Cleveland, Oklahoma City and Miami. Waiters was a highly-recruited player coming out of Life Center Academy in Burlington, NJ.
Will Miami Heat Part Ways with Dion Waiters?
It’s been a long and turbulent season for Dion Waiters.
He missed the first nine games for “conduct detrimental to the team” after waging a social-media war with Heat head coach Erick Spoelstra. Waiters was suspended for the season opener and banished from training camp after failing conditioning tests, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Per Sun-Sentinel: In the wake of his suspension, Waiters posted on his Instagram, “Eventually the truth will come to the light.” Waiters’ account also responded elsewhere to an Instagram post with, “I would win if I had Bron & Wade plus Bosh.” That was in reference to Spoelstra coaching the Heat to four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals and 2012 and ’13 titles with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Waiters’ future with the Heat remains unclear at this point. However, he appears to be doing well after overdosing on “gummies” candies. His mom posted a health update and thanked everyone for reaching out.
UPDATE: Dion Waiters’ mother responds on Instagram to my report.
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