Tyler Herro has taken a bit of a step back in his sophomore season, and the Miami Heat seem concerned that there may be something more to it.
This week on their “Inside the Paint” podcast, Miami Heat insiders Ira Winderman and Ethan Skolnick revealed that the team is wary of the 21-year-old’s growing celebrity status. Herro recently got his own breakfast cereal as well as a new “Tyler Herro Bowl” at Chipotle.
“Tyler Herro chose to become a celebrity,” said Winderman, per Heat Nation. “He chose to become something outside the game, as is his right. With his breakfast cereal, and his Tyler Tuesdays, and his Chipotle Bowl, and that’s all well and good.
“But you know what? Other players when they see a player doing that before they’ve truly reached it,” Winderman went on. “I don’t know if I want to say there’s a jealousy … They sort of take a scant view of the guy and say, ‘Wait a minute buddy. You haven’t done anything yet.'”
Skolnick added that the Heat have been concerned about Herro’s celebrity for months now.
The ex-lottery pick Herro burst onto the scene as a rookie with a confidence and a dynamic scoring ability that proved crucial to the Heat making their surprise NBA Finals berth last season. His per-game averages are actually up as a sophomore. But his shooting percentage are down to 42.2 from the field and 33.1 percent from deep. Herro also does not appear to have quite the same confidence lately and is often left out of closing lineups for Miami.
In addition to Herro’s endorsements, he is dating model Katya Elise Henry, who has over 8 million followers on Instagram. Herro was recently the subject of the hit song “Tyler Herro” by rapper Jack Harlow as well.
Herro’s case may be one of a player who ran too far, too fast and simply needs a bit of time for his development curve to catch up. But any off-the-court concerns will obviously be troubling for the Heat. After all, they have valued Herro extremely highly in trade talks recently.
