Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro made a bold statement when asked about the end of the 2021-22 NBA season.
Herro and the Heat were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals in Game 7, but Herro wasn’t able to fully contribute.
Herro missed a good chunk of the Eastern Conference Finals with a groin injury, and he believes the Heat would have won the title if he was healthy.
“It was tough the way it ended,” Herro, 22, said to the Miami Herald. “I felt like if I was at the level of play I was all season last year, I think we might have a fourth championship. That motivated me.”
Herro won the Sixth Man of the Year award for Miami for his impressive play in the 2021-22 season. The University of Kentucky product averaged 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game during the 2021-22 regular season while shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 39.9 percent from beyond the arc.
The Heat relied on Herro to contribute in a big way on offense, and the team’s production on that end of the floor was below average without him in the playoffs.
Even when he played, Herro wasn’t the same player in the postseason for Miami. He appeared in 15 playoff games and averaged 12.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while shooting just 40.9 percent from the field and 22.9 percent from 3-point range.
Miami had to rely even more on Jimmy Butler to carry the scoring load in the playoffs, and it wasn’t enough for the team to get past Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Herro believes that he is going to be even better in the 2022-23 season, as he’s always focused on improving.
“I just continue to get better all around,” Herro said. “I’m more experienced, more efficient, stronger, faster, can shoot from longer distances. My handle is tighter. I work really hard, so every summer I’m going to get better.”
Herro is entering his fourth season with Miami. The team has gone to the NBA Finals and made the Eastern Conference Finals twice in his first three seasons.
If Herro continues to improve as a player, the Heat should be contenders in the East once again this season.
