The Miami Heat took the NBA by storm a couple of years ago when they made it all the way to the NBA Finals inside the Orlando bubble. Not many expected that team to blow through the East, but that's exactly what they did. The Heat also put up a good fight in the Finals, but in the end, it was LeBron James and the Lakers who prevailed.
Fast forward one year later and the Heat were unceremoniously ousted in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual champions, the Milwaukee Bucks. All of a sudden, people had doubts about Miami and whether or not they were nothing more than “bubble frauds.”
Right now, the Heat are sitting at the top spot in the Eastern Conference and their strong play throughout the season has all but erased this senseless narrative. Tyler Herro has been an integral part of Miami's success this term and he had a few things to say to all of the Heat's doubters out there:
“Yeah, I mean now you can see we can play well outside of the bubble,” Herro told Malika Andrews of ESPN. “We're at the top of the East right now and we know how deep it is in the East. We're outside of the bubble, we're ready for the playoffs, ready to continue to get better every single day. We have put ourselves in a position to be able to compete for the title.
“We're not dangerously looming anymore. Tell them that,” Herro stated.
Herro is in the midst of his best season in the NBA, averaging 21.0 points on 44.3 percent shooting, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists, while also connecting on 2.7 triples per game on a 39.3-percent clip. The 22-year-old is logging a career-high 32.8 minutes off the Miami bench, making him the prime contender for this season's Sixth Man of the Year award.
When asked if he thinks he's done enough to bag the Sixth Man title, Herro was confident in his response:
“I mean that's for you guys to decide but I believe so,” Herro admitted. “There's a bunch of great bench players but at this point I feel like I've done my part. I'm on the best team and we should be Sixth Man of the Year.”
It's not all about Herro in Miami, though. It's been a complete team effort from virtually every single guy on the roster. Another individual that stands out is Bam Adebayo, who is also in the running for a prestigious end-of-the-season award. If you ask Herro, he has no doubt that Bam should be awarded as this season's Defensive Player of the Year:
“Defensive Player of the Year,” Herro said of Adebayo. “[Erik Spoelstra], Coach of the Year. Me and Bam we walk about it all the time. I gotta pu up my guy Bam so make sure y'all vote for him for Defensive Player of the Year.”
Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro joined NBA Today to discuss why he believes he is the Sixth Man of the Year, Bam Adebayo is the Defensive Player of the Year and adds: the Heat are not just “dangerous loomers.” pic.twitter.com/yiD5oKRNQp
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) March 17, 2022
Herro and the Heat have done some marvelous things so far this season. However, this team knows that their success in the regular season will all be for nothing if they don't deliver in the playoffs. It's still an uphill battle for Miami ahead as they will need to go through the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks, the Brooklyn Nets, and perhaps even the Philadelphia 76ers in the East before they even get to the Finals. One thing you cannot fault them for, though, is that this Heat team is fully confident that they have what it takes to win it all this year.
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