April 25, 2017

Dion Waiters: 'You think you can survive in Philly without irrational confidence?'

By Rich Hofmann
PhillyVoice Contributor

Among diehard NBA fans, Philly native Dion Waiters has somewhat of a cult following, with the image of Waiters’ hand raised in the corner calling for the basketball from a superstar teammate (LeBron James or Kevin Durant) etched into many minds.

Waiters takes irrational confidence to a new level, which he credits to his South Philadelphia upbringing. In an article for The Players’ Tribune, the 25-year-old shooting guard chronicles everything from growing up in Philly to his strong 2016-17 season playing for the Miami Heat.

The story is heartbreaking, hilarious, and generally all over the place in the very best possible way. And for my money, the best part is that Waiters seems to be fully aware about how delusional his game can appear at times ("You think you can survive in Philly without irrational confidence?"). Highest recommendation possible, so much so that I’m even linking it again.

There is a tragic story of Waiters’ childhood friend in the article, but let’s stick to a pretty funny anecdote here.

On Waiters’ first day at South Philadelphia High School, he told the security guard that he had already committed to Syracuse for basketball (which was true). They didn’t believe him, so Waiters responded “Google me!”:

So they take me down to the office, and they Google me.
Maxpreps.com. Dion Waiters. Committed to Syracuse.
The guard goes, “Man, you weren’t lying!”
I’m looking at him like, uh-huh.
From that day on, every time I saw that guard in the hallway, he’d yell out, “What’s up, Google Me?”