Dion Waiters Talks Mental Health: “I Go Through Depression, Just Like You”

With the current coronavirus pandemic, everyone is experiencing different feelings due to the unknown of what’s to come. Social distancing has also caused a lot of people to backtrack progress made with their depression and anxiety.

Now, in a new first-person piece for The Players Tribune, Los Angeles Laker Dion Waiters expressed his own struggles with anxiety and depression.

“Even the hardest motherfu*kers in the world go through depression, man. No cap,” Waiters wrote. “You know, I think sometimes the world needs to be reminded that we’re not superheroes. I came from the bottom. I seen it all. But when I go home at night, I’m just like you. I go through depression, just like you. I go through anxiety, just like you. This last year and a half, I done been through it.”

Back in November, Waiters made headlines for having a panic attack from eating an edible during a flight from Phoenix to LA, when he was still with the Miami Heat. Waiters was suspended for ten games as a result. He was also suspended for 6 more games for lying about being sick to avoid practice and one game for detrimental conduct. Waiters cited his “dark times” as the cause of the majority of his trouble with the Heat.

“The plane incident in Miami? It’s on me. I own that. It was idiotic on my behalf—point-blank, period,” Waiters continued. “What’s crazy is, my whole life, I been a leader. I’m not a follower. [Miami Heat president Pat Riley] knows me. He knows I don’t do drugs. But sometimes, when you’re going through dark times, you can fall trap to things you’d never do in your right mind.”

Elsewhere in the article, Waiters described his experience with depression as being “fake happiness.” Going more in-depth, Waiters explained that there were times he would lie to those closest to him, including family, friends, and even himself, about how he felt. He also said to avoid seeing what the media says about him, at times he would stay off his phone.

He also touched base on his relationship with LeBron James, whom he played half a season with for the Cleveland Cavaliers and will now hit the court with again as LA Lakers.

“I ain’t gonna lie to you. Back then, in those Cleveland days? I was still a kid, too. A dumbass kid, trying to figure it out,” Waiters wrote. “Bron used to show me different wines, different kinds of food. I was Philly, Philly. I was raw. But Bron took me under his wing—and now all these years later, here we are again. Less hair, more wisdom. Life is crazy, right? Damn.”