MIAMI — It’s not the improved shot profile, the 3-point consistency, the finishing at the rim, the ability to command double- and even triple-teams. It’s none of that, Tyler Herro said, when it comes to this first All-Star breakthrough and Sunday’s national showcase of the NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco.
It’s what you can’t see, the sixth-year Miami Heat guard said.
It is, as with many things about Tyler Herro, an attitude.
On the outside there is the fashion flash, on the court the styling sizzle, but within, deep within, there now is a maturity that has created purpose, and, therefore this All-Star moment.
“I think my mental is like the main thing that I feel like is really the difference for me this year,” Herro said as he headed into Sunday night’s game, coming off Saturday night’s title in the All-Star 3-point contest. “Obviously they talk about my shot profile and stuff like that. But I think my mentality is the biggest thing.”
For all the drama this season with Jimmy Butler, three lockers down that same side of the room at Kaseya Center, Herro has stood this season as a portrait of tranquility, thoughtfulness and purpose.
The bravado of fashionista fury on draft night in 2019 is all grown up.
“I think it comes with being OK with everything, trying to be at peace,” he said, having spent the majority of his first five seasons in the vortex of trade rumors. “I try to work on myself off the court just as much as I was working on the court. So just being at peace, having my kids, my girl, I’ve got everything I need. So just being able to stay present.”
Now soaking it all in, instead of getting caught at times in a spin cycle with coach Erik Spoelstra.
“I feel like in the past I was fighting how Spo wanted me to play, how I wanted to play,” Herro said. “And I think just being content with what is going on and not fighting it was probably the biggest difference to me.”
So compromises have been made, included to the shot profile crafted by Spoelstra and sewn into a tapestry of success by Herro, including Thursday night’s 40-point performance against the Dallas Mavericks before the Heat went into this All-Star break.
With, Spoelstra said, the diligence required to make it work.
“With Tyler, the biggest difference is probably just consistency,” Spoelstra said, “because I think each year he’s improved. I made that commitment to him when he first joined our team via the draft, that all the study that we did on him, we knew that he was extremely ambitious and had almost an unparalleled work ethic to match that ambition. So I committed to honoring that.
“I want to try to not try to diffuse that ambition or put a cap on it. I just wanted to be open minded to where we could take this.”
Along the way, ample highs and lows, the rookie breakout in the 2020 pandemic bubble, being named 2022 NBA Sixth Man of the Year. But also injuries and ailments at all the wrong times, as well as overt self-will at times.
“It hasn’t been linear, right?” Spoelstra continued. “But there’s been steady and consistent improvement every single year. And now he’s 25 years old, the game’s starting to slow down for him, and this step has been a fun step to see from him.”
The work ethic has been a constant.
“I feel like every year I’ve gotten better, in some areas more than others, on different occasions and different years,” Herro said, with the Heat idle until a Friday night road game against the Toronto Raptors.
This season, it has all come together, Butler’s absence and eventual trade to the Golden State Warriors opening the floor for the opportunity to play as leading man.
And that, Herro said, made the timing feel all the more right for this All-Star breakout, not only being a bucket, but adding to a bucket list.
“I’ve always wanted to be an All-Star,” he said. “I think I said that from the very beginning, not selfishly, but just trying to be ambitious in my own way.
“I’m a hard worker, so I feel when I’m able to put my mind on something, I usually go get what I want. So that’s usually how I try to do it. And All-Star was one of my goals coming into the league.”
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