Dion Waiters Responds to Rudy Gobert, Says He's 'Never Been a Dirty Player'

Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters remains adamant he did not intend to injure Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert.

"I've never been a dirty player in my life," Waiters said Sunday, per Shandel Richardson of the Sun-Sentinel. "I went for the ball. Tell him to get out of his feelings and that's what it is, just like that."

The two collided while going after a loose ball Friday. Gobert will now reportedly miss the next four to six weeks with a bone bruise in his knee, per Shams Charania of The Vertical.

Gobert provided his thoughts on Twitter after the game:

Waiters clearly didn't appreciate Gobert's accusation.

"I didn't even know that was him," the Heat guard said. "I went for the ball, making a basketball play. He (goes) right to social media. I ain't a social media guy. At the end of the day, that (expletive) don't matter. Tell him to get out of his feelings. We won, they lost. So what."

According to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune, the Jazz asked the league to review the play and were told Waiters should have been called for a foul but not an intentional one.

Losing Gobert for the next few weeks is a significant blow for Utah, as he's one of the team's offensive focal points and is one of the top defenders in the NBA. The center was a second-team All-NBA member last season while earning a spot on the All-Defensive first team. He is averaging 13.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and a league-best 2.5 blocks per game this year.

Waiters entered Sunday ranking second on the Heat with 16.4 points per game, which would be a new career high.