If you talk to a lot of Cleveland Cavaliers fans before the season, there was one underlying concern for the season.  Not LeBron James’ weight loss.  Not the chemistry between the newest Big 3.  Not first year head coach David Blatt.

No, what does the old adage say, “too many cooks can spoil the broth?”  (I think someone said that one time.)  And one cook in particular was a source of skittishness before the season… and no, I’m not talking about a creepy bearded man wielding a machete, I’m talking about Dion Waiters.

Waiters was at the center of chemistry issues that plagued the Cavs last year.  And even after the Cavs franchise was resurrected with the return of King James, Waiters caused a stir in the offseason by saying he would not come off the bench on Twitter.

After a 1-2 start, Waiters did come off the bench for the first time this season in Utah Wednesday night and launched a brief off-court controversy.

After the game, a report was issued at Cleveland.com that Waiters missed the national anthem before the game because of his Muslim faith.

It was the first game of the season that he was coming off the bench. He finally arrived from the locker room to join the Cavaliers’ bench a couple seconds before tip off. Folks started to speculate if he was injured, disgruntled or if this was his way of rebelling?

Turns out, Waiters was just acting in accordance with what he feels his religious beliefs are.

Waiters informed Northeast Ohio Media Group that he is a Muslim and that’s the reason he excused himself prior to the national anthem.

“It’s because of my religion,” Waiters told NEOMG. “That’s why I stayed in the locker room.”

Waiters says he is rededicating himself more to his Muslim faith. He appears to be in a happier state.

Obviously, an NBA player planning to skip out on the national anthem for any reason is going to make waves.  But for this to happen completely out of the blue caught Cavs fans and the NBA off guard.  To make it all the more peculiar, Waiters was back on the floor for the national anthem on Friday night in Denver.

The shooting guard then unleashed a Twitter barrage saying the report was a “damn lie.”

https://twitter.com/dionwaiters3/status/531087999287558144

https://twitter.com/dionwaiters3/status/531088381149577216

https://twitter.com/dionwaiters3/status/531089368820113408

So who’s telling the truth in this story?  It’s not uncommon to see an athlete attempt to dispute a report about them that may call their actions into question.  It is uncommon to see that athlete directly quoted in the story at hand.  So how could something like this happen?  Why did Waiters skip the anthem in Utah and not in Denver?  How did a direct quote turn into a damn lie?  What on earth to make of this?

Saturday night the reporter in question, Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com, published an article clarifying Waiters’ remarks.  It turns out it was a misunderstanding and the athlete and reporter were on different wavelengths when it came to the situation.  Waiters didn’t skip the anthem because of his Muslim beliefs.  Waiters is rededicating himself to his faith, but it’s unrelated to anything else:

I never recalled Dion missing a national anthem performance before, but he did mention he is rededicating himself to his religion. I then asked if he planned to continue this pre-game ritual the remainder of the season, and he replied, “Yes, I do.”

Thus, the story was born.

Dion and I had a long conversation on Saturday and we came to the realization that we were thinking two different things.

When I asked if he planned to continue his pregame ritual, I meant did he plan on skipping the national anthem from here on out. He said he was under the impression that I was asking if he would continue his prayer and meditation before games.

Fair enough.

Waiters reiterated that he would be present during the national anthem. He called it a “simple miscommunication” and added that he’s looking forward to moving past this situation.

Waiters echoed those sentiments on Sunday when speaking with reporters:

“It was a big miscommunication,” Waiters said after Cleveland Cavaliers’ practice Sunday. “Big misunderstanding. I love my country. I love the United States of America. I’d rather be here than any place else. It was just a big misunderstanding on both parts.”

Thankfully, this story should end here.  I was not looking forward to seeing how social media and our hyper-active, hyper-sensitized, hyper-polarized society was going to handle this if it became debate fodder.

There still are some unanswered questions though – why did Waiters miss the anthem?  Did he just lose track of time?  Was it just coincidence that it happened in his first game coming off the bench?

Regardless of what happened with Waiters and Haynes, it’s a wake up call to everyone involved with the Cavaliers this season.  And really, for everyone in sports and media.  With the proliferation of blogs and social media, one quote can make national news and spread like wildfire instantly.  So reporters and athletes would be wise to heed caution and make doubly sure that those quotes are reflected accurately, more so now than ever before.

Back to Cleveland though – we’re only five games into the new NBA season and already there’s a sense of predictable, overblown panic in the national media about the Cavaliers.  And not to throw the “d” word into this, but anything and everything that can be a distraction for this team this year will be.  And everyone around this team, reporters included, is going to be under a microscope like never before.  While Dion Waiters’ anthem controversy might be behind us, this may just be the beginning of a long roller coaster season in Cleveland.

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