The Cleveland Cavaliers traded Dion Waiters to the Oklahoma City Thunder in January 2015 and Brendan Haywood revealed it was because he didn’t learn from LeBron James. During an appearance on the Run Your Race podcast, Haywood stated that Waiters ended up being traded during the national anthem in front of his family before a game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
“I watched Bron teach them (Waiters and Kyrie Irving) or at least try to teach them how to win,” Haywood said. “Like, ‘Hey man, this is how you have to go about doing it.’ And he would let them lose games their way and then come back and show.”
“Then he’s seeing who’s going to pick it up and who’s going to learn and certain guys learned and certain guys didn’t,” Haywood stated. “Dion didn’t learn so he had to go, so they traded him… He’s from Philly too. They traded him in Philly in front of the national anthem. True story.”
“They went and yanked him out of the lineup,” Haywood added. “They cut the lights, they started singing, ‘Oh say can you see’ and we see security walk out of there and grab (him) like, ‘Hey, you, you, and you. Get out of here.'”
“Dion Waiters got traded in the middle of the national anthem in his hometown,” Haywood said. “His whole family sitting there in the front row, Meek Mill, everybody.”
That was ruthless from the Cavaliers. They had benched Waiters after three games in the 2014-15 season but it looked like he would at least get the chance to start in his hometown of Philadelphia when they took on the 76ers on Jan. 5, 2015.
With James and Kyrie Irving out injured, Waiters was inserted into the lineup and was even introduced with the starters. Prior to the game, he had stated that countless friends and family members would be in attendance at Wells Fargo Center and they all got the shock of their lives.
Waiters was pulled from the lineup after the announcement as the Cavaliers were finalizing a three-team trade with the Thunder and the New York Knicks. I can only imagine how he and his well-wishers felt at that point.
I suppose Waiters, the fourth pick of the 2012 NBA Draft, being traded away sent quite a message to that Cavaliers locker room as well. Learn what James is trying to teach you or else you’ll be shipped out next.
Waiters and James would reunite years later in 2020 when the former joined the Los Angeles Lakers and he was a lot more mature by then. Waiters spoke about the difference in playing with LeBron at 22 and 28.
“Just them things now that I didn’t probably understand when I was young. When you’re young, you’re still trying to find yourself coming into the league,” Waiters said. “I think Bron was trying to help me with that but I was so stubborn back then. But, I understand now. I’m 28. I’ve done been through a lot. I’m at peace with myself, though. So, I’m good.”
Waiters would go on to win the title in 2020 with James and the Lakers. It would prove to be his last pitstop in the NBA, as he has been out of the league since.
Brendon Haywood Reveals Kyrie Irving Said LeBron James Needed To Work Out With Him In The Summer To Work On His Handle
Haywood, who was part of that 2014-15 Cavaliers team, also shared a wild comment that Irving once made regarding James. After LeBron turned the ball over late in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the star guard suggested he needed to work on his handle with him.
“We’re playing against the Spurs (and) I think Kyrie is out that game,” Haywood said. “And Bron tries to go behind the back, Ginobli picks him for the game and he said it loud enough so people on the bench can hear. He was talking to me, but he truly meant it. He said, ‘Bron’s gotta get with me in the offseason (and) work on his handle.'”
Haywood might have been referring to this play in a game between the Cavaliers and the Spurs on Nov. 19, 2014.
It speaks to Irving’s confidence in his own abilities that he felt he could teach James a thing or two about dribbling a basketball. To be fair to him, that confidence is a big reason he has become the great player he is today.
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