Waiters injured Rudy Gobert on what the Utah big man called a “dirty” play Friday
If Dion Waiters isn’t dirty, then the only players with worse luck than him the past two games are the guys on the receiving end of his fouls.
A game after sidelining Utah’s Rudy Gobert on what Gobert said was a “dirty play,” Waiters found himself on the giving end of a questionable foul on another big man -- Detroit’s Andre Drummond.
In Sunday’s game against the Pistons, Waiters appeared to spin and twist Drummond to the ground after the Heat guard got lost on a screen. Drummond went to the ground clutching his ankle but was able to walk it off and stay in the game.
Just hours earlier, Waiters was defending himself against charges of being a dirty player after being called out by Gobert.
“I’ve never been a dirty player in my life,” Waiters said before the game Sunday. He subsequently went out to get himself involved in yet another controversial foul. I guess it’s all just part of the Dion Waiters experience.
On Friday, Waiters was involved in a much more nasty foul against the Utah Jazz. The most charitable version of the story is that Watiers’ momentum while going after a loose ball took him into Gobert’s right knee.
A less charitable interpretation is that as Waiters was stumbling to the ground he took the opportunity to intentionally dive into Gobert’s knee.
Gobert took interpretation No. 2.
“I think it was a dirty play,” Gobert said. “He just dove right into my knee.”
Gobert is now expect to miss four-to-six weeks with a bone bruise in his knee. Gobert was also able to return to the game after the team determined there was no ligament damage but he sat out the Jazz game Saturday against the Nets and now will miss extended time.
Luckily, Drummond doesn’t seem anymore worse for the wear. Even better, the Pistons beat Waiters’ Heat 112-103.