Tyler Herro has been listening to all the talk about his sophomore slump this past season, and he appears ready to right some wrongs in Year 3.
To understand why Herro’s attitude change is important, it’s vital to know his origin story. In 2019-20, as a rookie, he helped guide the Miami Heat to an NBA Finals appearance in the Bubble and rapidly established himself as a star to watch. Very attractive Instagram models, kind of odd tattoos, and incredible love triangles followed.
Then came Year 2.
After putting up 15.0 points on 43.9 percent shooting from the field and 36.0 percent shooting from beyond the arc as a rookie, Herro earned a starting spot.
Unfortunately, things quickly fell apart from there. Miami went 5-9 in its first 14 games with Herro in the starting lineup, leading to his immediate demotion back to the bench. Things only got worse from there. After averaging 16.0 points per game in the Heat’s run to the Finals one year earlier, Herro ended up averaging a mere 9.3 points on 31.6 percent shooting in this past season’s playoffs.
Despite Herro’s 2020-21 struggles, earlier this week the Heat exercised the $5.7 million fourth-year option on his rookie contract for 2022-23. Team president Pat Riley explained the rationale behind the decision in rather blunt terms a few days later.
This week, new photos of Herro emerged that may shine a light on why Miami has so much confidence in the youngster. He looks absolutely jacked:
Clearly Herro has taken working out in the offseason seriously. And seeing as one of his teammates recently called him out for a lack of maturity in that regard, this is no doubt a welcome attitude improvement.
Will Herro be able to return to his rookie form and deliver on the promise he showed two years ago? Time will tell. But clearly he’s gotten off to a good start this summer.
Jake Paul won twice last night. https://t.co/hwq8OroRtW
— Game 7 (@game7__) August 30, 2021
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
