The seven-year partnership between Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro ended with a blockbuster trade this month. Now, things have escalated to physical violence. On Friday morning, the former Miami Heat teammates engaged in a brief physical and verbal altercation on a practice court inside a Las Vegas hotel.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Adebayo confronted and struck Herro in the head at least once during the encounter. The clash follows Milwaukee acquiring Herro as part of the trade package that sent Giannis Antetokounmpo to South Florida.
The underlying friction traces back to social media. The confrontation directly follows leaked screenshots of Instagram direct messages from an alleged burner account linked to Herro, operating under the handle “Wonderboydidit.”
In those leaked messages with a fan, the operator of the account heavily criticized Adebayo’s recent three-year, $166 million extension. The messages questioned whether Adebayo should be paid “$60 million to be a top tier defender on some nights” while Herro handled the heavy offensive lifting during the playoffs.
Neither player is denying the incident. The Miami Heat organization quickly issued a brief official statement on Friday afternoon, saying, “we are aware and not commenting.”
Herro maintained that same stance hours later. Sitting courtside at the Thomas & Mack Center for Summer League action, he told reporters, “my only comment is no comment.” The Milwaukee Bucks are now reportedly open to flipping Herro for additional assets before the season begins.