Heat’s Tyler Herro hears the outside noise, but it doesn’t bother him anymore
Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro heard the outside noise while spending almost six weeks recovering from a sprained right ankle.
Is the Heat better without Herro? Should Herro move to a bench role? Is Herro more valuable to the Heat as a trade chip than he is on the court?
But Herro ignored all of it.
“I mean, people love to talk about me, so I don’t really feed into it,” said Herro, who turns 24 on Jan. 20. “People talk about me all day, literally all day about this or that, wins or losses, points or no points, what I wear, everything.”
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Herro is working to create a new narrative through his play, picking up right where he left off in his usual starting role before he sprained his ankle during a Nov. 8 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
After scoring a team-high 30 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the field and 7-of-13 shooting from three-point range to help lift the Heat to a 122-113 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night at Kaseya Center, Herro is averaging 27.7 points, six rebounds, 3.7 assists and one steal per game on 55.4 percent shooting from the field and 12-of-24 (50 percent) shooting from three-point range while showing off his improved defensive ability in his first three games since returning from injury. He’s had to take on a bigger offensive role, too, with Heat star Jimmy Butler missing the last two games with a strained left calf.
More importantly, the Heat has outscored opponents by 9.7 points per 100 possessions with Herro on the court in the last three games since he returned.
“Just more mature and I’ve been through a lot,” Herro said, with the Heat off until hosting the Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas Day on Monday. “So I’m not too worried about what people say, for real.”
Including the Heat’s first eight games of the season that Herro played in before missing more than a month because of his sprained ankle, he’s averaging career-highs in points (24.2 per game), assists (4.4) and steals (1.3) while shooting a career-best 47.6 percent from the field and 43.5 percent on threes in the 11 games he has appeared in during his fifth NBA season.
“Typically there would be a little bit of a build up to rhythm,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked if he’s surprised that Herro has been so sharp upon his return. “The one thing you can’t discount or underestimate is his work ethic. So once he was able to start doing stuff on the court, then he starts pushing the envelope and he really starts working. He’s relentless with his work. That’s what you really have to appreciate about Tyler. This is not something that just happened with talent. This is a lot of sweat equity behind the scenes.”
While Herro’s availability has been limited this season because of the ankle injury, he’s one of only five players around the NBA who entered Saturday averaging 24 or more points per game while shooting at least 47 percent from the field and at least 40 percent on threes. The others on that short list are Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant, New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton.
“Really just being more mature mentally, reading the game,” Herro said of how he’s improved this season. “I feel like knowing when to shoot, when to pass, kind of just balancing that. I feel like I’m better at manipulating the defense and making the right play.”
Along the way, Herro has established himself as one of the NBA’s best and most versatile shooters.
“He’s a brilliant shooter and he can do it off the catch or off the dribble,” Spoelstra said of Herro.
Among the 222 players around the NBA who entered Saturday averaging at least two catch-and-shoot three-point attempts per game this season, Herro holds the top three-point percentage on those shots at 51.9 percent, according to NBA tracking stats.
Among the 18 players around the NBA who entered Saturday averaging at least eight pull-up field-goal attempts per game this season, Herro holds the sixth-best effective field-goal percentage (field-goal percentage adjusting for made threes being 1.5 times more valuable than made twos) at 53.1 percent behind only Haliburton, Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“I’ve only played 11 games this year,” Herro said. “The more games I play, I’ll continue to get more comfortable. The game is just going to keep slowing down for me. So I’m just excited to be back healthy and on the court.”
Whatever Herro does for the rest of the season, he’s not eligible for postseason awards like a spot on an All-NBA team or other honors because he won’t reach the league’s new 65-game threshold to qualify. He’s still eligible to make his first All-Star Game this season, though, but all the games he missed will hurt his case.
“I just want to continue to show my worth, my value and continue to just get better,” Herro said. “I have plenty of time to get awards. So I’ll be alright.”
Herro’s sprained ankle may have taken him out of the running for most individual honors this season, but he tried to make the most of his time away.
“Eventually I feel like everybody misses time at some point throughout the season,” Herro said. “So just to be able to hopefully get that out of the way early on. Obviously with how I was playing, it wasn’t ideal to get hurt in that moment. But I took the rest, I spent time with my kids and just continued to get my body right.”
All while hearing the outside noise, not letting it consume him but turning it into more fuel for when he returned to the court. The results speak for themselves.
“Just being able to use those things as little motivations here and there, for sure,” he said. “But I think just continuing to find motivation throughout myself, my family, my daughter and my son, things like that. I’m really not worried about what people say anymore, for real.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2023 11:13 AM.
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