Dime is the premier basketball magazine, covering the NBA, NCAA, High School, Playground and International basketball - as well as sneakers, fashion and music.
Issue link: http://dimemagazine.epubxp.com/i/73806
"Once a kid has that chip on his shoulder, you can tone it down," his AAU coach, Aaron Abbott, said during a rare water break. "But we definitely don't want to take it away." At one point, Waiters missed three corner triples and hissed "Come on" under his breath at himself. A group of kids from the Y watched intently as he locked in on his next shot. He connected on that one, and then hit the next three. Four. Five. "People don't understand the standard of excellence he has for himself," Chris Clay- ton, Dion's friend and longtime mentor, observed from the sidelines. "If he misses two shots in a workout, where most people would just keep it moving, it literally irritates him. When he was younger, if he missed four shots, he might just throw the ball. "It's like every shot he takes is supposed to go in." she correctly assessed was his best option. Dion was naturally gifted, but reaching his goals required a ton of hard work, and all around him was the easy way out – "The streets," he says with a grim nod. But with no desire to live that lifestyle, Dion passed by the fork in the road and went straight. "Honestly, if I wasn't on the court, I was hanging out with my family," he said. "Just trying to stay out of trouble." Waiters' talent and growing reputation earned him a scholarship to Syracuse before playing a single high school game, but not everything came easy. He bounced around high schools across three states until finally finding a fit at Burlington Life Center in South Jersey. Back home, two of his cousins and his best friend were gunned down. He would lose another cousin in a motorcycle accident several years later. While dealing with these tragedies, Dion grew determined to honor his lost loved ones with his own success. A S A KID, WAITERS ESTIMATES HE'D SPEND "23 OF 24 HOURS" AT THE PLAYGROUND. IT'S HY- PERBOLE, BUT NOT BY MUCH. DION WOULD CONSISTENTLY HOLD THE COURT FOR FOUR OR FIVE HOURS AGAINST OLDER PLAYERS. WHEN HE GOT TIRED, HE'D NAP ON THE BENCH. Philly legend has it that out of respect, no- body would go near him while he slept. Oh word, that's Dion? Leave him alone. Growing up, Dion actually preferred football to basketball, and also played baseball and soccer. But in what he cites as a key moment, Monique Brown, his mom – Dion calls her "My backbone throughout my entire life" – insisted that he focus only on hoops, which "There's times where you get tired. You get exhausted. And you tell yourself, 'All right, let's stop,'" he says. "And right then, you have to think about the people who missed that chance at trying to be something in life, like my best friend and my cousins. "I know they're watching over me. And I know they want me to continue doing what I'm doing. If they were here, they'd be push- ing me. And that's one of the reasons I play the way I do." South Philly presents a paradox: The neigh- borhood has caused him much pain, but its courts hardened him into a versatile, explosive scorer and facilitator, and one of the best perimeter defenders in college basketball last season. According to Pome- roy statistics, Waiters finished 15th in the country in steal percentage for Syracuse, which ranked fifth as a team. Does anyone intimidate him? "No. Nobody," Waiters says. "I mean, I'm from Philly, man. Honestly, I don't think there's a tougher city than this. Growing up, I saw a lot. At the end of the day, we're all the same. We all bleed the same. We all breathe the same. So when it comes down to it, I fear no one." He's loyal to South Philly, and eager to help kids in the same situation he once was. He's already started the DW Foundation, which recently staged a roller skating party – Waiters loves roller skating – to benefit his elementary school. Still, for someone who's worked his whole life for a ticket out, Dion Waiters is none- theless in no rush to leave his past behind. "I'd probably buy a house down here in the future," Waiters says. "You know, this is what made me. Philly made me. I think it's only right that I try and do as much as I can for the community, and the kids, to show them if you have a dream, don't let nobody tell you different." D ION AND HIS BOYS SPOT A FA- MILIAR FACE ON THEIR WALK DOWN SOUTH STREET TO GET LUNCH. "WHAT UP, L-TRAIN?" WAITERS CALLS OUT. SURE ENOUGH, ANOTHER NA- TIVE SON, LIONEL SIMMONS – THE NO. 7 OVERALL PICK IN 1990 OUT OF LA SALLE AND A VETERAN OF SEVEN YEARS FOR THE KINGS – WAS JUST HANGING ON THE CORNER. WAITERS TOOK A COUPLE MINUTES TO CONSULT WITH SIMMONS, WHOSE PATH HE HOPES TO FOLLOW. When you walk around with him, you real- ize that in Philly, everyone knows Dion. If Waiters wanted to run for Mayor, he'd have a shot against Michael Nutter. People in line i i When I would go to the mall in 'Cuse and get a pedicure or something, get my feet done, people would be walking by just staring at you, taking pictures. It would be awkward a little bit but at the end of the day, it was all love. i i You've got to bring your music on long trips like this one to Vegas, plus clothes, DVDs, all of your favorite movies for the computer. You've also got your phone and your phone is pretty much everything for Twitter and things like that. 49 i i If I'm listening to music before a game, it has to be Meek Mill. The last good song I listened to was "Dreamchasers." Jay-Z has to be on there. Jadakiss. Rick Ross. I also listen to Eminem's song "I'm Not Afraid." That'd make up a good playlist for myself. i i All of the food has been good lately at Impact Basketball. I only disagreed with one of the foods so far and that was the pasta. Besides that everything else has been great. The pasta was just different.