The back-and-forth between former Miami Heat head coach Stan Van Gundy and current Heat guard Tyler Herro has made another development.
Herro, who broke his hand in Game 1 of the first round against the Milwaukee Bucks, has been on the sidelines for the Heat’s run, the deepest by a No. 8 seed in the NBA playoffs since the Knicks in 1999.
While on the bench, he’s worn an array of flashy clothes, including hats that have garnered attention.
In the latest spat, Van Gundy responded to Herro in a manner that insisted he had been joking as the two traded barbs this week.
“I mean, some guys get real sensitive, some of us can laugh at ourselves,” Van Gundy shook off with a smile.
“Guys have gotten a little soft in this generation now,” he added as Reggie Miller vigorously nodded to his right, and as Charles Barkley chimed in, calling Van Gundy “a hell of a coach.”
As the Heat held a 3-0 lead on Tuesday before falling to the Celtics, 116-99, Van Gundy hinted that the Heat could use Herro in a way that shaded his loud attire.
“You know the No. 1 reason the Heat need Tyler Herro back?” Van Gundy asked Reggie Miller on the broadcast. “Because his fashion is so bad on the bench. We need him in uniform.”
As Van Gundy added, “And for me to be commenting on anybody else’s fashion is probably …,” Kevin Harlan interjected, saying, “You took the words right out of Tyler’s mouth.”
Herro responded to that in an Instagram story, saying, “My ‘fashion’ wasn’t as bad as he was on the sideline,” with a laughing emoji.
Herro has an outside chance of returning this postseason, but he’d need his Heat to win Game 7 as heavy underdogs in Boston on Monday, because it would likely come in the NBA Finals, if at all.