Ramona Shelburne
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- Senior Writer for ESPN.com
- Spent seven years at the Los Angeles Daily News.
Several authors
Bucks guard Tyler Herro said he wants to “move on” from a physical altercation with former teammate Bam Adebayo last week in Las Vegas and is “focused on the next chapter in Milwaukee.”
“Honestly, I’m just trying to forget all of this,” Herro told ESPN. “I’m focused on Milwaukee and creating something special. Obviously they just traded the greatest player in their history, so we want to come in and help continue what they’re doing.”
Herro added that if he had to play anywhere other than the Miami Heat, where he was named Sixth Man of the Year in 2022 and an All-Star in 2024-25, it would be with his hometown team in Milwaukee.
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“I’m ready to come home and not prove everyone wrong,” he said, “but just be able to represent the city and the state because that’s what I wanted to do after I graduated.”
Herro’s comments come days after ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that he was involved in a fight with Adebayo at the Resorts World hotel in Las Vegas on July 10.
It all started when Adebayo approached Herro shortly after 9 a.m. PT on Friday. Adebayo and the Heat came to practice on the same court where Herro practiced in the morning and stayed to practice with his AAU team.
According to people familiar with the meeting, Adebayo confronted Herro over comments the guard made criticizing the center on social media after their seven-year run as teammates in Miami ended when Herro was traded to Milwaukee in a lucrative deal with Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Herro responded verbally in a way that Adebayo countered and the confrontation became physical. Sources familiar with the encounter told ESPN that Adebayo hit Herro in the chin, although the description of the nature of the physical contact is somewhat controversial.
Herro did not fall to the ground, sources familiar with the situation said, adding that others in the gym kept him from reacting physically.
Adebayo took issue with comments from a social media account allegedly linked to Herro, in which he questioned whether Adebayo was justifying his $60 million salary and suggested that if Herro were healthy, he is a Heat player who would need more help from his supporting cast.
This appears to be a reference to comments Adebayo made after the Heat were eliminated from the play-in tournament this season, suggesting he needed more help from his supporting cast if Miami wanted to get back into title contention.
Heat sources told ESPN that Adebayo and Herro had a mostly good relationship when they were teammates, but they grew apart over the past year as Herro played in just 33 games due to various injuries and struggled to adjust to changes in the team’s new offensive scheme.
On several occasions, Adebayo made comments suggesting that Herro needed to do more to fit into the new scheme.
On November 24, after Herro made his season debut following offseason ankle surgery, Adebayo was asked whether Herro, who excels in pick-and-rolls, could adapt to an offense that significantly de-emphasizes pick-and-rolls but leads the NBA in scoring.
“Yes,” Adebayo said then. “As you can see, being part of the offense is fun. There’s not a lot of participation, but we share the game. You like games where everyone feels included, everyone gets a chance to be aggressive. Put pressure on the rim and we will succeed.”
It was a common refrain from Adebayo, the Heat captain who team sources said irritated Herro as he struggled to recover from ankle, toe and rib injuries and heard his name mentioned in discussions about a trade for Antetokounmpo in February.
Herro sat courtside at the Thomas & Mack Center during Friday’s summer league game between the Heat and Bucks. During the game, he was interviewed by Prime TV before news of his feud with Adebayo broke.
“Everyone is loved in Miami,” Herro said when asked if he was embarrassed to see his former team. “I saw a couple of the guys, the coaching staff, Chris Quinn, Spo (Erik Spoelstra), the front office guys; we’re all good in Miami. It’s just an opportunity for both parties to reset, to start over, and both are very happy about it.”