Heat's Tyler Herro sharing his All-Star moment with those closest to him: ‘He has earned it'

Miami Herald

15-02-2025

After the Miami Heat's pre-All-Star break schedule came to an end in Dallas on Thursday night, Heat guard Tyler Herro flew back with the team to Miami.
That might seem like an unusual move for a player who needs to be in San Francisco this weekend to take part in Saturday night's Three-Point Contest and play in his first NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night. But Herro wanted to return to Miami to pick up his family and friends, so they could all take a Friday morning flight together to the West Coast for All-Star Weekend.
It's part of Herro's plan to share as much of his first true NBA All-Star experience as possible with those closest to him.
'Just spending it with my family, getting a break,' Herro said when asked what he's looking forward to the most from All-Star Weekend. 'Just seeing all my people there and being able to experience it with them.'
It will also be a time for Herro to reflect on his NBA journey since being drafted by the Heat in 2019, making his first All-Star Game this year in his sixth NBA season.
Herro has been at the center of trade rumors for players like James Harden, Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard in past years, but was never ultimately dealt.
Herro has also battled some injury issues throughout his career, missing 40 of the Heat's 82 games last regular season and never playing in more than 67 regular-season games during the first five seasons of his NBA career. That led to Heat president Pat Riley calling Herro 'fragile' this past offseason.
Herro has responded to it all with his best NBA season after listening to feedback from the Heat's coaching staff and applying it to his game, averaging career highs in points (23.9 per game), rebounds (5.5) and assists (5.5) while shooting a career-best 46.5 percent from the field this season. He's also shooting an efficient 38 percent on a career-high 9.7 three-point attempts per game and has missed just two of the Heat's 53 games this season.
'I feel good. I feel like I'm wanted,' Herro, 25, said before playing in his first NBA All-Star Game on Sunday at Chase Center (8 p.m., TNT). 'They want me here. But [expletive] can change if I'm not doing my job and doing what I'm capable of, and staying healthy. At the end of the day, it's good for now. But at the end of the day, it's a process for me that never stops. I feel like it's something you got to continue to do every single day — prove to the city, the organization, the front office why I deserve to be here.'
Through it all, Herro's family has appreciated what the Heat has done for him.
Herro's father, Chris Herro, remembers when Riley said at the start of Herro's introductory press conference in 2019 that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was 'going to make him an All-Star.'
'I didn't forget that,' Chris said. 'Those are things that as a parent, it's cool to see that we're there. But then it's cool to see that they believed in him, like this is why we got you because we think you can be an All-Star. I didn't forget that as a parent and Tyler didn't forget that.'
Selected by the head coaches as an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve guard, Herro was drafted onto Team Kenny Smith for the All-Star Game's new four-team tournament.
Herro is just the 11th different Heat player in franchise history to be selected as an NBA All-Star (Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Anthony Mason, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Goran Dragic, Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Herro).
Herro is also just the third Heat draft pick to make the NBA All-Star Game while with the organization, joining a short list that also includes Wade and Adebayo.
'I think the ultimate for Tyler was being an All-Star,' said Chris, who coached Herro's basketball team from first grade through the AAU circuit in high school. 'I just think for us and his family, it's the hard work and the dedication that has been put in for so many years that people don't see behind the scenes. It's just a really cool feeling for him to get what he deserves. He puts a ton of time into this.
'That's the gratitude. I told him, 'You should be proud of this moment.' Because he has earned it at the end of the day, nothing has ever been given to him.'
The Heat (25-28) is in the middle of a transition period after trading Butler to the Golden State Warriors last week, entering the All-Star break on a four-game losing skid and in ninth place in the East. But Herro's strong season has been among the biggest bright spots amid a rough season for the Heat.
'I would say staying healthy and just my mindset,' Herro said when asked what has been different for him this season. 'Being free in the mind, being clear, at peace, happy. So I'm OK with the results. The results just ended up being how I wanted them.'
It wasn't too long ago that some made fun of Herro for saying he believes that he should be in the same conversation with NBA stars like Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Ja Morant.
'I feel like I'm in the same conversation as those guys,' Herro said to Jeremy Tache in 2021. 'The young guys coming up in the league who can be All-Stars, superstars one day—Luka, Trae, Ja—those guys like that, I feel like my name should be in that category, too.'
Herro can now say he's an All-Star. He also stands by that statement.
'I believed it then. So I'm sure y'all know how I feel about it now,' said Herro, who is in the second season of a four-year, $120 million contract that he signed with the Heat in October 2022. 'Yeah, I feel great about myself and my abilities to compete in this league with anybody in the league, literally anybody. I feel like that, for real. I think later down the road, now people kind of see what I was saying. But some people haven't really seen it. So I just got to keep going.'
So, still more to prove?
'Always,' Herro said, 'Always more to prove.'
But that can wait until the Heat resumes its schedule on Friday against the Raptors in Toronto. For now, Herro is focused on proving just how thankful he is for the support and love he's received from his family and friends along the way.
Herro's girlfriend, two children, father and mother are among those who are with him in San Francisco for his All-Star moment.
'The family part is the most important part of everything,' Chris said. 'I texted him [Thursday] and that's what he said. He said he's going to work out at 2 p.m. for the Three-Point Contest. I said, 'I'm coming with you.' He goes, 'You're going to be by my side every day this weekend.' Things like that, he appreciates it.'