A new report indicates that Miami Heat rookie Tyler Herro became irritated with his father after he expressed concern about his interactions with new teammate Jimmy Butler.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN profiled the younger Herro and noted how his father, Chris, had misgivings about his son getting together with Butler in Chicago in July 2019. That concern was based largely on Butler’s reputation for having a prickly personality.
“As a parent, you hear stories about Jimmy and you just want to make sure he’s OK,” Tyler’s father recalled about that night in July 2019. “He snapped back at me, ‘Dad, you gotta stop texting me. Jimmy is a good dude.'”
The connection between Butler and the younger Herro began with the rendezvous in Chicago and continued during early morning workouts in Miami leading up to the start of the Heat’s training camp last year.
When the Heat acquired Butler, he became a member of his fourth different team since 2017. That led to the perception that the veteran was difficult to get along with and would end up causing problems with teammates.
However, the younger Herro and Butler quickly bonded and have played key roles in getting the Heat to the NBA Finals for the first time in six years.
The Heat still have a stiff challenge in winning three more games against the Los Angeles Lakers, especially with the team’s injury concerns.
Yet, it’s clear that the mindset of Butler, the younger Herro and the team as a whole is that the team’s chance to win its first league title since 2013 remains very much alive.
