Dion Waiters Posts About Death of Brother on Instagram

Oklahoma City Thunder shooting guard Dion Waiters posted messages on March 9 on his Instagram account mourning the reported death of his younger brother, Demetrius Pinckney.  

As you'd expect, Waiters stated the situation has "crushed" his heart (warning: post contains profanity):

He also posted another photo of his brother:

Waiters commented again on his loss on Wednesday, per Royce Young of ESPN:

"We feel for Dion, man," Kevin Durant said on March 9, per Young. "He's our brother and it's tough for anyone to go through that and we have his back on everything. He's got our love and support throughout it all and he knows we're here for him."

Waiters grew up in Philadelphia before attending Syracuse. The Cleveland Cavaliers made him the fourth overall pick in the 2012 draft. He was traded to the Thunder in early 2015 and has emerged as a key role player in Oklahoma City over the past two seasons.

The 24-year-old guard has dealt with a lot of personal loss during his rise to basketball fame. In 2009, Brian A. Giuffra of ESPN Rise Magazine wrote about the deaths of those close to him and how he responded during the struggles.

"That was the hardest time in my life," Waiters said at the time. "I lost three cousins and a best friend, and they all came at the wrong time. Everyone told me to be strong and that they were in a better place. But I didn't want to hear that. They were gone and I will never see them again."

Now he's forced to go through another period of grief at such a young age.

The Thunder will surely give him whatever support he needs in order to work through this situation.