Tyler Herro is having a great rookie season in Miami, barring the foot injury keeping him out of action at the moment. But that hardly stopped him from enjoying All-Star weekend as he was down to participate in the Rising Stars game before getting ruled out.
The first-year player has already shown signs of becoming one of the best long-range shooters in the league and is perhaps very fortunate to be on the same team as Jimmy Butler, whose work ethic is either contagious or abrasive, depending on who you are.
Butler, who joined the Heat with the reputation of being someone who’s hard to work with, hasn’t shown any of those signs in Miami and the team’s youngsters absolutely love him. As for Herro, he’s probably left a lasting impression on the youngster following a very overt gesture during the beginning of their relationship as teammates.
The rookie shooting guard sat down for an interview with The Athletic‘s Andre Fernandez recently and was asked for his favorite Butler moment.
“He walked in the gym one morning and came in with my practice jersey, arm sleeve and everything I wear and started telling everyone that it was ‘Tyler Tuesday’. He kind of just ran with it for a few months,” Herro disclosed.
Asked if Butler did something similar for anyone else, he replied: “Nah, he only did that for me.”
“He’s a tremendous leader, and our record shows it,” the former Kentucky star added. “We plan to have a stronger second half. Jimmy has taken me under his wing, and I definitely appreciate him.”
Herro is averaging 13.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists a game in his rookie campaign, shooting 41.4 percent from the field and 39.3 from three. It was feared that he might miss the rest of the season due to the foot issue that has kept him out since February 3, but his recovery has gone well and he will hope to be back in the lineup before the playoffs.
