Heat suspend Dion Waiters for 3rd time this season

FILE – Dion Waiters #11 of the Miami Heat brings the ball up the court against the Charlotte Hornets during their game at Spectrum Center on October 09, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Streeter Lecka/Getty Images/AFP

MIAMI — Dion Waiters has been suspended yet again without pay by the Miami Heat, his third banishment of the season.

The team made the announcement Thursday night, citing “his failure to adhere to team policies, violation of team rules and continued insubordination” as the reasons. The move came only a few hours after Waiters had been ruled out of Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers because of illness.

Waiters has been sick for several days, but clearly, the already-strained relationship is ailing again. He will not be allowed back until after Miami’s game against Utah on Dec. 23.

He has already lost about $920,000 in salary from two previous suspensions — a one-gamer to start the year after he complained about his role in the preseason, then a 10-gamer after an incident on the team plane where a person with knowledge of the matter said he ingested at least one cannabis-infused edible and had a reaction that required medical attention.

The latest suspension amounts to six games, or another $500,000 off his $12.1 million salary — raising his total in lost pay this season to more than $1.4 million. That doesn’t include a $1.1 million bonus that he could have earned by appearing in 70 games.

Waiters is in the third year of a four-year, $47.3 million contract that had about $5 million more in possible incentives for playing a certain number of games.

Waiters has never made more than 46 appearances in a year since coming to Miami. He’s been in only 120 games with the Heat, missing many because of ankle injuries and surgery on his ankle and foot.

Waiters is a career 13.2-point scorer and has averaged 14 points per game while with the Heat.