There is only one solution to the Tyler Herro noise

No one said narratives were fair, or even always largely accurate. There's not much nuance on social media, nor is there any accounting for causation not being correlation.

So of course Tyler Herro was going to get blamed by many if the Miami Heat offense stalled some after his return, or if the Heat won less than they had won without him. Variability doesn't matter, because Herro is apparently to blame for which opponents the Heat play, or whether Simone Fontecchio and others who were previously scorching have reverted to the shooting mean.

Apparently, he's also to blame for how they perform when he's out (recently with a toe injury), even by those who credited his absence for them winning without him as he recovered from ankle surgery earlier in the season.

Bam Adebayo defends Tyler Herro:

“It’s a terrible narrative. We’re gonna need Tyler at the end of the day. He brings an aspect where he can go get a bucket at any point. I feel like they’ve been trying to make Tyler the reason for years.”

(via @ZachWeinberger) pic.twitter.com/HAPqm1bTzb
— SleeperHeat (@SleeperHeat) December 13, 2025

This isn't to say he's been perfect when he's played. His shooting splits are exceptional (he's in prestigious 50/40/90 territory, but he hasn't transformed into Lu Dort as a defender, and the ball does tend to stick more when he's in than when he isn't, or especially when he wasn't. It does seem at times like others are deferring to him, which is natural since he was the Heat's only returning All-Star and their second-longest tenured player.

But there's only way to quiet everyone, and it's not with the quotes that Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell offered in Herro's defense at Friday's practice, although both had positive intent:

Win.

The noise will always be there otherwise, especially after the Heat advanced to the 2023 NBA Finals with Herro watching the likes of undrafted guards Gabe Vincent and Max Strus get his minutes. The Heat are roughly .500 all-time with Herro as a starter, and their best stretch of winning came with Herro as a Sixth Man of the Year in 2021-22; interestingly, a season in which Adebayo and Jimmy Butler also missed a good deal of time.

The noise will only grow louder as Herro's name is thrown in the trade machine for Giannis Antetokounmpo, in the event that the Bucks megastar actually ultimately asks out. Herro's name has been put there in exchange for far worse players, and he can't let that nor the delay in his receipt of a contract extension get in the way of the main thing.

We are in year seven now, and Herro has proven to be one of the best players in his draft class. He was taken 13th out of Kentucky and has produced like a top-five pick. He's in fact been more reliable than those chosen first and second. Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, even if he had neither's upside. But what he has not proven is that you can win big with him while leaning on him as one of your franchise players. And that's what the Heat need now, so long as he's in their jersey.

And it's up to Powell and Adebayo and others to assist in that way, with all getting back to the level they were at, consistently, before he came back. The talk is a lot cheaper than their contracts.