Oklahoma City Thunder fans don’t wait Dion Waiters to fail. Maybe some fans take joy in watching Waiters falter, but trust me, Thunder fans would love nothing more than to see him make step back after step back while sporting a big smile on his face.
Our esteemed editor David Ramil questioned why fans want to see Waiters fail. He brought up a number of good points and I happen to agree with a good portion of them. For many reasons (some valid, some not so much), fans love to see overly cocky athletes, especially those who haven’t won anything, fall on their face in big moments. I can’t say that I’m immune to this thinking. I take a little bit of pleasure in seeing James Harden miss a big shot or get angry when Dwight Howard can’t read his mind.
Thunder fans might not like Waiters. We might question why he plays so many minutes and we definitely get angry when he takes bad shot after bad shot, but we don’t want him to fail. Why would we? Anthony Slater stated that Waiters is key for the Thunder if they hope to make a championship run. It sounds like a baffling statement at first, but it’s not exactly wrong.
Waiters is averaging 9.6 points per game this season, the lowest of his career. In OKC’s 16 losses, he’s averaged 6.5 PPG, only scoring in double digits three times and scoring five points or less in half of the losses. Like it or not, the Thunder need Waiters to be good. With Serge Ibaka having his worst offensive season in years, Cameron Payne being a rookie and struggling, and no other viable offensive option, Waiters has to be relied upon to carry the offense when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook need a break.
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Waiters hasn’t been that much better in wins (remember, he’s averaging less than 10 points yet playing 28 minutes), but when he’s shooting well and playing up to his potential, he makes the Thunder a far more dangerous team.
Having your season rely on such an enigmatic player isn’t exactly a comforting thought for OKC fans who expected “title or bust” this season. Dion has been a model of inconsistency throughout his Oklahoma City tenure. When he’s not bricking step back jumpers, he’s probably fumbling the ball on a fastbreak. When he’s not losing his man on defense, he’s probably complaining about a non-foul. In rare cases, he can have a great game. His 25-point performance against Washington earlier this year shows that, from time to time, he can be that third scoring guard that OKC has loved throughout their entire brief history. The problem is, those games are so rare that they’re actually surprising when they happen.
At this point, no one expects much from Dion Waiters. When fans check the boxscore after the game, no one questions how he could play 25 minutes and only score two points. Double-Digit Dion shows up about as often as a Kanye West track without a feature. It’s nice when it happens, but no one actually watches Thunder games with the thought, “Waiters will have a big game tonight.” We’re really just thinking, “I hope Waiters doesn’t screw up too badly tonight.”
Don’t mistake anger or low expectations with wanting a guy to fail. If you’re a fan of a team, you should never want a guy on that team to fail. I’m not a fan of Waiters. When I watch him, I’m often confused as to how he’s in the league, much less playing significant minutes on a 40-win team. Watching him failing does me no good as a fan and it definitely does the team no good. It’d be one thing if the bad decisions and missed shots led to him getting a reduced role, but that’s not happening. The Thunder made their bed with Waiters and are now sleeping in a big wet one.