Dion Waiters' epitaph for Demetrius Pickney

Dion Waiters just penned an incredible tribute to his brother, Demetrius Pickney, over at The Players' Tribune. The story of how Dion copes with his loss is both touching and inspiring. Huge thanks to Dion for sharing this part of his life with us. I've quoted some of it below, but please head over to The Player's Tribune to read the whole thing.

The truth is, you shouldn’t even know my name right now.

When I was eight years old, I was walking across the park with my mom in South Philly when I heard, Pop-pop-pop-pop! There was a shootout between some kids and we got caught in the middle of the playground. Bullets were flying by my head. I’m talking literally right by my head. The shooter was running right at us.

We hit the ground until it stopped. If I was a few inches taller, I could’ve lost my life right there. You wouldn’t know the name Dion Waiters.

You should know the name Demetrius Pinckney. This is what I want you to remember about his life: We called him Zique. He loved to dance. He was always smiling and making the best out of life. I watched Zique grow up from being a goofy-ass little kid, always crying. He was the biggest mama’s boy in the neighborhood.

When I think about him, I just think about having fun. He was just a funny person to be around, but the one thing he loved was riding dirt bikes. That’s the thing for these kids now. It’s like the new rap music, especially in Philly. These kids love bikes. It’s a culture that a lot of people don’t know about.

Hard not to be a Dion Waiters fan after that. This Thunder season has become about a lot more than basketball.