The Miami Heat fan who publicly shared screenshots of an Instagram direct message appearing to show Tyler Herro criticizing Bam Adebayo says he never imagined the post would become intertwined with one of the NBA’s most talked-about offseason incidents.
Speaking to the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, the fan, who identified himself as Toronto accountant Greg Johnson on X, expressed regret after the leaked messages surfaced days before the reported altercation between the former Heat teammates in Las Vegas.
“I feel bad,” Johnson told the Miami Herald. “I didn’t want Herro to get punched. To think this led to two players fighting is crazy. If they were close, I feel bad they were not friends anymore. This is crazy to me.”
Johnson said he decided to publish the private messages after becoming upset by a social media post in which Herro shared a graphic ranking the NBA’s least efficient mid-range shooters. The graphic included Adebayo, who has been the centerpiece of Miami’s defense throughout the past several seasons.
According to Jackson, the leaked direct messages became one of the issues that fueled the growing rift between the two former teammates.
New Details Emerge About Fallout
Jackson also reported Monday that neither Herro nor Adebayo appears interested in prolonging the dispute.
As of Monday afternoon, Herro had not filed a police report or lawsuit stemming from Friday’s incident, and Las Vegas police confirmed officers were never called to the hotel where the confrontation occurred.
Whether the NBA will investigate remains undecided.
“There is believed to be surveillance footage to be reviewed, but at this point [there has been] no investigation from the NBA,” ESPN insider Shams Charania said.
An NBA spokesman told the Miami Herald that the league has not yet determined whether a formal investigation will be opened.
Charania added that both players are prepared to move forward.
“Herro is not pursuing any legal action as of right now, of course,” Charania said. “Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo clearly have some sort of falling out that potentially began last season. My understanding is both Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo want to move on from this situation.”
Those comments align with another account that surfaced over the weekend.
Former NBA guard Danny Green said Heat assistant coach Wayne Ellington recently spoke with Adebayo, who privately characterized the confrontation as being far less serious than public reports suggested.
“I got a chance to sit down with Wayne,” Green said on the No Fouls Given podcast. “He said he had spoken to him (Bam). He said they hyped it up more to what it was. Sometimes you got to check your little brother, that’s it.”
Adebayo has not commented publicly.
Tension Had Been Building for Months Between Former Heat Teammates
Jackson’s reporting suggests the confrontation was rooted in more than a single leaked social media exchange.
According to a player who has shared an NBA locker room with both Adebayo and Herro, tension between the two had been simmering for months.
The player told the Miami Herald that many around the league believed Herro had grown frustrated after watching Adebayo receive two lucrative contract extensions while Miami declined to offer Herro a second extension once he became eligible.
The source also said Herro had become weary of repeatedly being included in trade speculation while Adebayo largely avoided similar rumors.
The leaked Instagram messages only intensified those frustrations.
According to a source cited by Jackson, the messages that angered Adebayo included comments from an account appearing to belong to Herro questioning whether “an elite defender” should earn approximately $60 million annually—a remark widely interpreted as referencing Adebayo, who has earned six All-Defensive Team selections and is scheduled to make $49.5 million next season.
Herro never identified Adebayo by name in the exchange and later told Heat beat reporters he did not know what to make of the social media controversy.
For seven seasons, Herro and Adebayo helped define Miami’s post-Big Three era, reaching two NBA Finals together before Herro was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in the blockbuster deal that brought Giannis Antetokounmpo to South Florida.
Jackson’s latest reporting suggests the Las Vegas confrontation did not stem from one leaked conversation alone. Instead, it appears to have been the culmination of tensions that had quietly built long before the former teammates went their separate ways.
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