Dion Waiters can't deny the attention his injury needs.

After sitting out his second consecutive game Tuesday against the Magic, the Heat guard is contemplating having surgery this offseason to repair an ankle injury that never fully healed and has been giving him trouble all season.

"I've played through it, though," Waiters said, via ESPN. "I've got to. I'm not making any excuses. It is what it is. It's something I don't like to talk about because there's nothing we really can do right now but try to take care of it, get it stronger, things like that. I don't want to be in this predicament where it's a little tweak, you've got to miss a decent amount just off a little tweak. That sucks."

When prompted about his timing, Waiters insisted the procedure would not take place before the season is over.

"No," Waiters added. "Hell, no."

Waiters initially injured his ankle in March and missed Miami's final 13 games last season. While he considered surgery last offseason, he opted not to go under the knife because he would not have been rehabilitated by the start of this season. Now that the injury is affecting his availability once again, Waiters may need to address the issue sooner rather than later before aggravating it further.

"Until I take care of it and do what I was supposed to do with it, even if I have a little sprain, it's going to be severe," Waiters said. "I didn't even do anything when I twisted it. I just twisted it."

Waiters, 26, is averaging 14.3 points through 30 games this season, down from his 15.8 average over 46 games last season.
With no timetable for his return, Waiters' status for Friday's game against the Nets remains uncertain