The award marks a nice turnaround from a shaky sophomore season from Herro.
In a surprise to no one, Tyler Herro won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award. He received 96 of 100 first-place votes; Kevin Love — the rightful winner according to John Hollinger — had three first-place votes, while Cam Johnson had one.
A lot of major steps taken professionally and personally – this season has been bigger than the award for @raf_tyler [SOUND UP] #6MOTYLER pic.twitter.com/A02dgTZCAK
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) May 3, 2022
Tyler Herro received 96 of 100 first-place votes for Sixth Man of the Year. Not close. pic.twitter.com/TaTDegKjsh
— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) May 3, 2022
This award marks a nice turnaround from Herro’s uneven sophomore year. The Miami Heat’s 2019 first-round pick started the 2020-21 season in the starting lineup as the point guard. But he lost the spot to Kendrick Nunn. Last June, Ethan J. Skolnick of the 5 Reasons Sports network said that there was a 75 percent chance Herro would get traded.
Ethan J. Skolnick says there’s a 75% chance Tyler Herro gets traded
Via @5ReasonsSports pic.twitter.com/QCSklJIMvk
— Ahn Fire Digital (@AhnFireDigital) June 25, 2021
But the Heat traded for Kyle Lowry over the summer without giving up Herro, something Miami couldn’t do at the trade deadline. And during a season that saw Bam Adebayo need early-season wrist surgery, Lowry miss time for personal reasons and Jimmy Butler suffer nagging injuries along the way, Herro helped the Heat remain at the top of the Eastern Conference. Kendrick Perkins even said Herro should’ve been Miami’s representative at the All-Star Game.
The Miami Heat is the Number 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. With that being said it’s a must that they have someone representing them in the All-Star game! Jimmy and Bam both missed too many games so I believe Tyler Herro should get the Nod!!! Carry the hell on…
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) January 27, 2022
And while Herro struggled in Miami’s first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks, he bounced back in Game 1 of the second round against the Philadelphia 76ers last night.
Tyler came in off the bench on a mission last night pic.twitter.com/i5ZTc1IUY9
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) May 3, 2022