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Heat's Tyler Herro Says Rumors About His Lifestyle, Women Were 'Never True'
April 22, 2022
Miami Heat star Tyler Herro pushed back against narratives that have formed regarding his life off the court.
"There were so much rumors floating around my name," he told ESPN's Israel Gutierrez. "The lifestyle stuff, the girls, and saying I'm getting caught up in that, which was never true."
Herro seemed to make a breakthrough during Miami's run to the 2020 NBA Finals. He averaged 16.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 37.5 percent in 21 postseason games.
The 22-year-old didn't take a big step forward in his second season, though. He put up solid numbers in the regular season (15.1 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.4 APG) before his performance cratered in the playoffs. He went 12-of-38 from the field as the Heat were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.
On their Inside the Paint podcast (via ProBasketballTalk's Dan Feldman), Ethan Skolnick and Ira Winderman reported the team "has been concerned now for months" about Herro focusing a little too much away from the court.
Herro explained to Gutierrez how the COVID-19 pandemic threw off his routine last year, which had a snowball effect. He "thrive[s] on confidence," so one bad game would turn into two would turn into three, etc.
The 2019 first-round pick said being the subject of trade rumors didn't help, either.
Herro seems to have put all of that behind him. Miami clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference, and he was one reason as he set career highs in scoring (20.7 points per game) and shooting (44.7 percent overall and 39.9 percent on three-pointers).
Herro is one of three finalists for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year.