Former Miami Heat teammates Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro found themselves in a brief but heated confrontation — both verbal and physical — at an NBA Summer League practice facility in Las Vegas on Friday, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
The source, who asked not to be identified because neither player nor their respective teams made any public statement about the incident, told The Associated Press that Adebayo hit Herro at least once during the encounter.
The two players were teammates until earlier this month, when Herro was dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of the trade that brought Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami. Adebayo, the Heat’s team captain, will now play alongside the superstar in South Florida.
The Heat acknowledged that something happened but offered no further details. Herro briefly addressed reporters from The Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel following a summer league game between the Bucks and Heat, offering only this: “my only comment is no comment.” Herro was in attendance for that game, while Adebayo did not appear at the contest. ESPN was the first outlet to report specifics of the altercation.
The source told AP that one contributing factor to the confrontation was that Herro had apparently made critical remarks about Adebayo — specifically targeting the three-year, $166 million contract extension Miami awarded him in 2024. Those comments are believed to have been made through direct messages on social media, and screenshots of the conversations eventually became public.
Meanwhile, other notable developments unfolded in Las Vegas during Summer League on Friday.
The Washington Wizards have been using the Summer League as an opportunity for team bonding, with veteran players gathering to watch their top overall pick and others showing up to support Trae Young at a press conference where his new $212 million, four-year contract was announced.
Young appeared to embrace the team atmosphere, saying: “I’m a people’s person. I think to be the best version of yourself, you’ve got to be in the most comfortable spot for yourself. I mean, surround yourself with the right people and the right things. And for me, just being around here (for) the few months that I was after I got traded, it just felt like this could be my next home. And I mean, that’s why I’m here.”
The four-time All-Star had a difficult past season, playing in only 15 games split between Atlanta and Washington — including just five appearances after being traded from the Hawks, the team he spent his first 7½ NBA seasons with. He averaged 17.9 points per game, more than seven points below his career average.
Young addressed the criticism surrounding the large contract the Wizards committed to him, saying he isn’t concerned about outside opinions. “I don’t really care about what other people think,” he said. “I just care about what the people in this organization think, my teammates think and how we’re going to get better and how we’re going to find ways to win games. So, what everybody else has to say, I mean, it’s all irrelevant to me.”
Also on Friday, newly appointed National Basketball Players Association executive director David Kelly took strong aim at the NBA’s second apron salary rule, vowing that the union will push back against it in the next collective bargaining agreement.
“We are not fans of the second apron,” Kelly said. “We did not propose the second apron. We should have done a better job of fighting back against the second apron, and in the future, we will have a much more unified union, and we will do a better of fighting it back against a second apron.”
Kelly’s remarks came in response to a question about comments NBA veteran Kyle Kuzma posted on social media earlier this month. Kuzma argued that the salary apron rules are “starting to function like a hard cap on player value, team continuity, and player movement,” and urged the union to step up its efforts rather than let the league “continue to run circles around us time and time again with elite lawyers, economists, cap experts, media strategists, and long term business operators.”
Kelly pushed back on that framing, though he said he did so with respect. “You don’t ever go into any sort of a competition trying to score as many points as your opponent,” he said. “We do not need anyone who is equal to the NBA. The NBA is not the standard. We need people who will fight for us and force the NBA to raise their game to our standard.”
The current collective bargaining agreement is set to remain in effect through at least the 2028-29 season.
