Honest question: can Dion Waiters even dunk anymore? A cursory look at basketball-reference says that he hasn’t even attempted a single dunk this season. That, by itself, doesn’t mean that he necessarily CAN’T. But it’s not a good sign, just like him only dunking three times last season isn’t a good sign. But at least last year, if I asked the same question, you could point to somewhat recent dunks as evidence that he could at least do a rimgrazer.
The total lack of bounce on his layup at 0:50 of this video is what led me to ask this question. Rookie year Waiters would’ve slammed that down hard. Present-day Vince Carter would also have slammed that down hard, and he’s ancient. I guess that’s the difference between taking perfect care of your body and doing your best Fatty Felton impersonation.
If it turns out that dunking isn’t really in the cards for him anymore, I’ll have to rethink all those Dwyane Wade comps I had for him earlier in his career. I probably already should’ve been rethinking those, but there was a good chunk of time where I tried not to think about either of them at all, and then another chunk of time where I was too awed by Waiters Island to be critical of him.