Report: Heat's Dion Waiters Had Panic Attack on Team Plane After Eating Edible

The cause of Dion Waiters' illness that led to the Miami Heat listing him as out for the team's game Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers has reportedly surfaced.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst reported Saturday night that Waiters "experienced a panic attack on the team's chartered flight Thursday night after consuming a THC-infused edible," a substance that is banned by the NBA.

The Heat did not provide a comment.

Wojnarowski and Windhorst's joint report came after Fox Sports 640 South Florida's Andy Slater first reported that Waiters passed out on the team plane from Phoenix to L.A. Thursday as a result of eating gummies.

Earlier Friday, a Heat spokesperson told Slater that the team could not comment on what was at the time an anonymous player's medical emergency and cited medical confidentiality laws.

Prior to this, Waiters was most recently held out for the Heat's 124-108 win in Phoenix on Thursday night with what the team described as a stomachache. Per Woj and Windhorst, that stomachache was what led Waiters to seek relief in an "edible that he was unfamiliar with."

The 27-year-old guard has yet to play for the Heat this season.

Waiters' 2019-20 campaign began with a one-game suspension served during Miami's regular-season opener on Oct. 23. The organization released a statement citing "conduct detrimental to the team":

Leading up to the suspension, Waiters had reportedly been displeased with how he was being utilized in the preseason. "I know the reason why I'm coming off the bench," he said, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Oct. 10. "That's between us."

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was slightly more specific: "We want to get him in Miami Heat shape, and he's getting there. But he's getting his legs under him, and he can give us that kind of boost when his body's feeling right."

In a report published on Oct. 20 by Heavy.com's Sean Deveney, an anonymous NBA general manager disclosed that the Heat had been trying to trade Waiters "since last Christmas."

"No one was trying to take him on then," the GM continued. "After this [suspension], it would be really hard to take him on now. He has had this kind of junk attached to him just about his whole career."

Miami gave Waiters a four-year, $52 million contract ahead of the 2017-18 season, and that decision has yet to pay dividends. The 2012 fourth overall pick was limited to 30 games in 2017-18 and 44 games last season with a variety of injuries. He did not play at all during the 2018 calendar year after undergoing ankle surgery in January 2018.

After this latest development, it's hard to see the relationship between the Heat and Waiters getting better anytime soon.