Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Dion Waiters had a rocky start to his season, being demoted from the starting lineup to the bench while enduring an elongated shooting slump.
His minutes fluctuated while head coach David Blatt toyed with various rotations, and it bothered him.
"I would be mad before I even got in the game," Waiters told Northeast Ohio Media Group. "I was mad, [but] it is what it is."
It was the same frustration he felt at Syracuse, where he was the sixth man even though he felt like he deserved a larger role.
Blatt met with Waiters several times to discuss his struggles, but both sides couldn't see eye to eye.
"Yeah, we talked," Waiters said. "He said his side of the story and I said mine. It took a while. It took a while for us to actually start getting it."
He was averaging just 8.1 ppg on 36 percent shooting, through the first 17 games of the season, so Waiters starting putting in extra work on his game and rededicated himself to finding a way to make an impact. It worked - in the past four games, he's averaging 16.3 ppg while shooting around 50 percent.
"I was just fighting myself, man," Waiters said. "That's what I was doing. I just left it alone. I'm going to make the best of it. I've got good people in my corner who actually care for me. I'll be good."
"All of us are growing as partners, as teammates, as players and coaches," said Blatt. "The main thing is that we all have the same goal in mind and that's to build a highly successful team here in Cleveland. I want to see Dion be successful as anyone else and I want to see him help this team as much as anyone else and I know he feels the same."
Be sure to follow our Cavs insider @brauf33 on Twitter and follow our Cleveland Cavs team page for the latest Cavs news!
RELATED ARTICLES
3 Possible Trade Targets For The Cleveland Cavaliers
Back to the Cleveland Cavaliers Newsfeed