Dion Waiters responds to weight criticism

Dion Waiters missed nearly the entire calendar year of 2018 after undergoing ankle surgery. A lot of fans and sports pundits saw photos and mocked him for seemingly gaining weight.

Even Heat coach Erik Spoelstra mentioned Waiters’ conditioning as an issue he needed to work on in his end-of-season press conference.

And now, Waiters has responded to the criticism in his own Instagram post. He mentioned that he came off one of the “most depressing and frustrating times of my life” after suffering the injury. He said that he promised himself to “get back to where I was before the injury.”

Although these players are millionaires, they’re human. As Wesley Morris said last month, “The money and fame are nice. But what money can’t buy is sound mental health.” Waiters clearly read the social media posts about him. Yes, fans have a right to criticize players if they’re not performing well — but it’s important not to be cruel.