Inside The Heat

Lil Dicky, Gilbert Arenas Call Tyler Herro NBA’s Best White Player

Bryan Townes|
Apr 3, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) reacts after scoring against the Memphis Grizzlies during the third quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Apr 3, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) reacts after scoring against the Memphis Grizzlies during the third quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro just finished the best season of his career.

Herro made his first-time All-Star Game and won the 3-point contest. He finished the season averaging 23.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 5.5 assists on 47.2 percent shooting and 37.5 percent from three-point range.

More importantly, Herro became the Heat’s primary offensive option after trading Jimmy Butler. Opposing teams have scouted and listed him as their top priority to stop, as he no longer gets easy defensive coverages. This has elevated him from other third options such as Chet Holmgren and Austin Reaves. Despite also having his career-best season, Reaves has benefited from LeBron James and Luka Doncic taking most of the defensive attention.

On Gil’s Arena, Lil Dicky and Gilbert Arenas praised Herro as the best white American in the NBA.

“Tyler Herro is also good,” Lil Dicky said. “Physically, Tyler Herro has got all of the athleticism.”

“Tyler Herro is No. 1,” Arenas explained. “Tyler Herro is one. I just thought about it. Then, it’s Austin Reaves.”

DUNCAN ROBINSON CALLS OUT MIAMI HEAT’S “MARKETING” STUNT

The Miami Heat’s famous "Heat Culture" motto has gained popularity in recent years.

Now, the slogan has become a topic of mockery for many NBA fans, including Heat supporters. Despite being one of the most successful organizations in the league, with three championships and seven Finals appearances, most disagreed with the team's creation of the Culture Jerseys and Culture Court, which detailed a short explanation of the values they pride themselves on. Having things such as those painted a target on the Heat, and it wasn’t a good look when it resulted in a Play-In Tournament loss and a first-round exit to the Boston Celtics in five games. 

On the Young Man and the Three podcast, Duncan Robinson explained he was also wasn’t a fan of the Heat’s idea to create tangible aspects to market the standards they try to live by. 

“Yeah, I think a lot of it stems from Coach Riley,” Robinson said. “Obviously, I love the organization and I have benefited from it a lot. We had some great runs and great times. I will say, when they started to sort of shift into like a marketing thing, I think it lost a little bit. At least for me, as somebody who, when I got there, I didn’t necessarily know about Heat Culture or hear about it in that way. And then you get in between the walls and see it manifest in the day-to-day. Then you buy into this. I’m not coming at the missteps of the organization, but when we had the Culture jerseys and were on the court, I think it ripened us for people to make fun of us.”

RAJON RONDO ISSUED ULTIMATE CHALLENGE TO LEBRON JAMES DURING 2020 NBA FINALS

Despite COVID-19 running rampant in 2020, the NBA transitioned to the unique Bubble format.

The Miami Heat won the Eastern Conference by upsetting the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks and the No. 3 seed Boston Celtics. Although their primary star was Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic was the leading scorer. Dragic and three-time All-Star Bam Adebayo got hurt in Game 1 of the Finals against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Their injuries led to Butler taking over and the birth of “Playoff-Jimmy.” In the Finals, he averaged 26.2 points, 9.8 assists, and 8.3 rebounds on 55.2 percent shooting and 30.8 percent from three-point range. 

Lakers guard Rajon Rondo explained on Dwyane Wade’s The Why podcast about challenging James to shut down Butler. This was after Butler's two signature triple-double performances of scoring at 35 points.

“We get to the Finals, and like I said, Jimmy is going crazy,” Rondo said. “We’re in the film room again, and Jimmy had a crazy triple-double, like a 40, 10, and 10. I’m like Bron, what are we doing? And the rest is history. `Bron stepped up and took the challenge. He stuck Jimmy that Game 6, they play me, everybody else is cracking, and we end up winning.”'

Bryan Townes is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at btownesjr@gmail.com or on X @bryantownesjr11. Follow our coverage on Facebook


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Bryan Townes
BRYAN TOWNES

Bryan attended Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia with a focus on sports management. While he didn't grow up an NBA fan, he became one after playing the popular NBA2K video game. From Jimmy Butler to Ray Allen to Chris Bosh, Bryan has followed the Heat for the past several years.

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