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What Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dion Waiters is going through right now is almost unimaginable. Waiters’ brother, Demetrius “Zique” Pinckney, was killed earlier this month during a violent day in Philadelphia in which five other people were slain across the city.
The violent events were tragic and newsworthy on their own, but Pinckney’s relation to Waiters meant there was an entirely separate story. The story, sadly, was generally told the same way: Brother of Dion Waiters killed in Philadelphia.
The news can be cold and headlines, especially in a day and age where sites compete for traffic, can be even colder. But Waiters wants the world to know one of the six people killed that day wasn’t just his brother; it was Demetrius “Zique” Pinckney. He was a person just like the rest of us. Waiters penned this thought in a Players’ Tribune piece called “For My Brother” that’s well worth the time to read.
DION WAITERS’ BROTHER KILLED IN SHOOTING.
Dion Waiters’ brother.
His name is Demetrius Pinckney.
He wasn’t just my brother. He was his own person. He had his own name.
Waiters also told the story of the time he was nearly killed in a shooting as a child. “Bullets were flying by my head. I’m talking literally right by my head,” Waiters wrote. “If I was a few inches taller, I could’ve lost my life right there. You wouldn’t know the name Dion Waiters.”
Waiters’ piece is a sobering reminder of how all lives hang in delicate balances, and that all lives deserve more than a simple connection to someone else.
(Via the Players’ Tribune)
