The Miami Heat are on the right track once again in the Pat Riley era. The team is awaiting their Eastern Conference finals opponent and hoping for another run at an NBA title.
In the meantime, Riley, who has run the show as team president since 1995, couldn’t help but take a shot at two former Heat players, according to ESPN’s Dan LeBatard who was on The Lowe Post podcast recently.
“Our so-called leaders” — Pat Riley, spitting in disdain about Hassan Whiteside and Dion Waiters.
(per @LeBatardShow on @ZachLowe_NBA’s podcast) pic.twitter.com/sYcZ53MvnX
— Miami Heat Beat (We Just Cover The Team) (@miaheatbeat) September 10, 2020
Whiteside and Waiters are probably two of Riley’s biggest misfires since he took the job as team president. Although both players are talented and still in the league, neither player lived up to expectations with the Heat.
The now-Portland Trail Blazers center inked a massive four-year contract with the Heat back in July of 2016. Whiteside’s contract was worth $98 million over that four-year span. He was ultimately traded to the Blazers in a four-team deal in July of 2019.
As for Waiters, the veteran guard put the franchise through quite a lot during his stint with the team. The last incident resulted in him being suspended for the third time during the 2019-20 NBA season.
These suspensions were all related to his conduct, and it all came down to a panic attack on the team plane as the result of taking a THC-infused edible.
The Heat ended up parting ways with Waiters by trading him to the Memphis Grizzlies. He signed a four-year, $52 million contract with the Heat back in 2017. He has since been waived by the Grizzlies and signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.
