The Milwaukee Bucks-Miami Heat rivalry was already headed back into the spotlight after the massive Giannis Antetokounmpo trade. Now it has a fresh jolt of bad blood.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo, former Heat teammates, were involved in a physical altercation in Las Vegas on Friday morning. The reported incident happened at Summer League and adds another layer to a matchup that had already been simmering again.
In recent weeks, there were alleged direct messages in which Herro criticized Adebayo’s play during their time together in Miami. Adebayo reportedly did not take those rumored comments lightly. At the time of this writing, there are little to no details about what happened, but Herro appeared on television later in the day in good spirits and without any black eyes.
The timing only makes the next Bucks-Heat meetings even more intriguing. What was already shaping up as must-see basketball now carries a new edge, with both players suddenly tied to a storyline that could follow them into the regular season.
This rivalry has been building in waves for years. It really took off in the 2020 NBA Playoffs, when Miami upset the top-seeded Bucks and reached the NBA Finals.
Milwaukee answered a year later with a series sweep on its way to a Finals title. After that, the Heat added P.J.
Tucker from the Bucks. Then in 2023, Miami upset top-seeded Milwaukee again in the postseason.
Milwaukee’s response to that latest loss was to steal Damian Lillard away from the Heat, who had been viewed as the clear trade partner for the star guard from the start.
Now the Bucks have taken Milwaukee’s franchise icon from them, and that alone was already one of the biggest storylines heading into next season’s meetings. This latest altercation just turned the temperature up even more.
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