Former Syracuse Basketball Star Dion Waiters Has Been Unstoppable

While waiting for Selection Sunday, lets take a look at a true success story at the next level for one former Syracuse basketball star in Dion Waiters.

Former Syracuse guard, Dion Waiters, has turned what was looking like a lost season, into what may be one of the most memorable in recent memory for the Miami Heat.

In early January, the Heat were sitting at 11-30, and their fans were ready to see this team tank, and get a high selection in the 2017 draft. However, Dion Waiters wasn’t ready to rebuild, he wanted to start winning.

Waiters and company then went on a 13-game winning streak, and sat at 24-30 on the season. Since then, the Heat have gone 7-3, and now are 31-34, sitting just half a game back of 8th place. Going 20-4 after starting the year 11-30 is absolutely remarkable, and Dion Waiters has been the bookend to this teams success.

The Cleveland Cavaliers selected the Syracuse product fourth overall in the 2012 NBA draft. Playing in the shadows of NBA superstars such as Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, and Kevin

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Durant/Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City, Waiters never had his chance to lead a team. That of course changed when he came to south beach.

Waiters has dominated this season, especially in the late stages of games. Waiters success in the last couple minutes of regulation, or even overtime, is what separates him from the rest of the NBA’s finest this season. When time is winding down, Dion Waiters is 9-20 from the field in games that are separated by five or less points, according to basketball reference.

On March 6th, the Miami Heat found themselves up five over the Cleveland Cavaliers with 16 seconds left. On a feed from Josh Richardson, Waiters pulled up from the top of the key, and banked in a game-sealing three as the shot clock expired. Being able to shock the team that drafted him must have made the shot THAT much more memorable for Waiters.

Except that wasn’t his most impressive shot of the year. On January 23rd, with their winning streak on the line, Dion Waiters hit a buzzer-beating three over Klay Thompson to beat the Warriors 105-102 at American Airlines Arena.

When Dwyane Wade left for Chicago in the offseason, Miami was devastated. Their pain and suffering has quickly subsidized thanks to Dion Waiters, who is playing the best basketball of his young career. Maybe D-Wade’s faithful will now be D-Wait’s, but only time will tell.

Coming into this season, most believed that Waiters was simply an option on a Heat team with Hassan Whiteside and Goran Dragic. Dion Waiters is averaging around 16 points, four rebounds and change, plus an additional three assists per game.

When he played at Syracuse, Waiters believed that his game was a mixture of Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade, some of the greatest players that have ever laced them up.

True Dion Waiters story from his Cuse days: he considered his game a combo of Kobe and Dwayne Wade so he had teammates call him Kobe Wade.
— Danny Parkins (@DannyParkins) May 31, 2016

Even though he struggled early on in his career, Waiters never lost confidence. In his rookie season, Waiters reinforced his confidence that he is on his way to NBA stardom, and will soon perform at the level that Wade and Bryant once did in an interview with HoopsWorld:

"“Kobe and Wade paved the way for a player like me and they’re almost done. I’m coming. I just want everybody to know that.”"

Comments like those may seem completely out of the ordinary, but Dion Waiters is as confident as ever, and it is showing this season.

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Miami is one of six teams within four games of the sixth, seventh, and eighth spot in a competitive Eastern Conference. The Miami Heat are on the verge of turning a horrible start to the season, to one of the best finishes in recent years. Dion Waiters has shocked the NBA this season, and will have plenty of opportunities to continue doing so down the stretch.