Heat鈥檚 Herro overwhelming pick as NBA鈥檚 Sixth Man of Year

Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat goes up for a layup against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at FTX Arena on May 02, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (AFP)
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  • Miami coach Erik Spoelstra: Tyler was ignitable for this team. He was that way all season

MIAMI: Tyler Herro was told before the season began that he wouldn鈥檛 be in the Miami Heat starting lineup. To his credit, he saw that as an opportunity.

鈥淚 saidHeat鈥檚 Herro overwhelming pick as NBA鈥檚 Sixth Man of Year, 鈥楲et鈥檚 go for Sixth Man of the Year,鈥欌€� Herro said.

And that鈥檚 what he got.

Herro was announced Tuesday as the NBA鈥檚 top sixth man this season, the first player to win the award as a member of the Heat. He averaged 20.7 points, nearly four more per game than any other reserve in the league, plus had a huge role in Miami securing the No. 1 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs.

鈥淚t means a lot,鈥� Herro said. 鈥淚 accepted the sixth-man role for a reason. I wanted to be the best sixth man in the league.鈥�

By overwhelming consent of the 100 sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the league and vote on season-ending awards, that鈥檚 what Herro was. He received 96 first-place votes and 488 total points, well ahead of runner-up Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cameron Johnson of the Phoenix Suns was third.

Love got three first-place votes and 214 points in the system where players received five points for a first-place nod, three for second place and one for third. Johnson got one first-place vote and 128 points.

鈥淭yler was ignitable for this team,鈥� Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. 鈥淗e was that way all season.鈥�

Herro had eight 30-point games off the bench this season, more than any other three players did combined. The last time a reserve had more than eight 30-point games was 2017-18, when Lou Williams had 11 for the Los Angeles Clippers. Before that, it was 1989-90, when Ricky Pierce had 17 for Milwaukee.

And in those years, Pierce and Williams 鈥� two of the best sixth men ever 鈥� wound up winning the award that Herro received Tuesday. Herro got the official word in a ceremony during practice Tuesday morning, with teammate Udonis Haslem serving as the presenter.

鈥淲hen you come in and you鈥檙e going to be the featured player, that, to me, is a better role than a starting role in a lot of ways,鈥� said Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers, whose 76ers are facing Herro and the Heat in an Eastern Conference semifinal series that resumes Wednesday. Miami leads the series 1-0, with Herro scoring 25 points in the opener on Monday night.

鈥淵ou look at the old Celtics with Kevin McHale and (John) Havlicek and you look at history, there鈥檚 been a lot of key sixth men to lead teams a championship,鈥� Rivers said. 鈥淭hey end up playing starter minutes. They just don鈥檛 start the game.鈥�

McHale was a two-time winner of the award, including in Boston鈥檚 1984 title season. Havlicek was part of eight Celtics championships, six of them as a reserve.

Herro is hoping to do the same this spring with Miami.

He actually played more minutes this season than anyone else on the Heat, posting career-bests in most offensive categories, and was second on the team in points per game behind only Jimmy Butler鈥檚 21.4 鈥� just 0.7 ahead of Herro鈥檚 pace.

鈥淚 just realized what this team was built for,鈥� Herro said. 鈥淚t was built for a championship. When you look at our roster, if I was our coach, I would probably bring myself off the bench, too. Just looking at what we have on the team, if it makes sense to bring either me or Jimmy off the bench, obviously it鈥檚 going to be me. We鈥檝e got to bring one of our main scorers off the bench. And I understand that.鈥�

Sixth Man was the fourth major award to be announced this offseason, joining Most Improved ( Memphis鈥� Ja Morant ), Rookie of the Year ( Toronto鈥檚 Scottie Barnes ) and Defensive Player of the Year ( Boston鈥檚 Marcus Smart ).

Still to come: Coach of the Year (Spoelstra, Phoenix鈥檚 Monty Williams and Memphis鈥� Taylor Jenkins are the finalists), and MVP (either Philadelphia鈥檚 Joel Embiid, Milwaukee鈥檚 Giannis Antetokounmpo and Denver鈥檚 reigning MVP Nikola Jokic).

The 22-year-old Herro grew up in Wisconsin and played one year at Kentucky before getting drafted by Miami. He is completing his third season, is extension-eligible this summer and it鈥檚 a certainty that Miami will try to sign him to a deal that will kick in at the start of the 2023-24 season. The extension could be as much as five years and around $185 million 鈥� if Miami offers him a full max deal.

He鈥檚 proven his worth.

Herro鈥檚 1,162 points in games where he didn鈥檛 start this season were a Heat record, as are his 2,348 career points off the bench. He had 32 games this season scoring at least 20 points off the bench and is up to 51 such games in his career 鈥� more than any other two Heat players combined.

鈥淵oung guys coming into the league, it鈥檚 often about themselves scoring and getting paid and the next contract,鈥� Herro said. 鈥淏ut I feel like no one鈥檚 in my situation. Obviously, if I was in a different organization, things would be different. I鈥檓 on a team that鈥檚 winning, playing for championships and scoring and doing my thing. I think that鈥檚 a blessing to do it all 鈥� score, get minutes, get better at the end of the day, and win.鈥�