The Milwaukee Bucks-Miami Heat rivalry was already headed back into the spotlight after the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade. Now it has a fresh layer of bad blood.
Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo, who were Heat teammates before the blockbuster trade, got into a physical altercation in Las Vegas Friday morning. Charania posted, “Details for @SportsCenter on the Bam Adebayo-Tyler Herro altercation at a Las Vegas hotel gym: pic.twitter.com/iR4PxYMk1v”
There still aren’t many specifics about what happened, but the incident did not seem to leave Herro visibly worse for wear. He appeared in good spirits during a television appearance later in the afternoon and was without any black eyes.
The tension between the two had already been building in recent weeks. There were alleged direct messages in which Herro criticized Adebayo’s play during their time together in Miami, and Adebayo apparently did not take those rumored comments lightly.
What makes this even bigger is the timing. The Bucks and Heat were already a matchup people were circling, and this only turns up the volume. Now the next meetings between Milwaukee and Miami carry a whole new edge, with the possibility that this incident becomes part of the story on the court as well.
The rivalry itself has plenty of history behind it. It started to take shape in the 2020 NBA Playoffs, when Miami upset the top-seeded Bucks and reached the NBA Finals.
Milwaukee answered the next year with a sweep on the way to a Finals title, then later brought in P.J. Tucker from Miami.
In 2023, the Heat knocked off top-seeded Milwaukee again in the postseason.
The Bucks then responded by taking Damian Lillard from the Heat, who had been seen as the obvious trade partner for the star guard from the start. Now Milwaukee has also taken the franchise icon from Miami, and that was already set to be one of the biggest talking points when these teams meet next season.
This latest incident just adds another chapter to a rivalry that has clearly come roaring back.
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