MIAMI – Addressing his recent ankle surgery publicly for the first time, Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro indicated Monday his return could come beyond the team’s initial expectation, but said he is doing as much as possible to fast-track.
“I’ll be back in the next eight to 12 weeks,” Herro said at the team’s media day at Kaseya Center. “Should be a full recovery. Right now, I’m ahead of schedule as far as the swelling. I should get the stitches out in the next week.”
He then said he offered a more optimistic view to coach Erik Spoelstra.
“I told Spo that I’ll be back in six weeks,” Herro said. “I’m ahead of schedule”
Herro also said every effort was made to avoid the surgery and be available for Tuesday’s start of training camp at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.
“We tried everything to avoid the surgery,” he said.
In addition, Herro revealed his situation was complicated . . . because an extra bone in his foot.
“It was locked. So every time I would try to push my foot forward, I couldn’t do it,” he said.
“They removed the bone, so it wasn’t blocking me anymore.”
Surgery, Herro said, proved to be the only option.
“There was no way I was gonna be able to play through that,” he said of the pain and discomfort. “Couldn’t even jump.”
Herro, 25, said he felt “a pinch” in his foot in July amid a workout at Miami-Dade College, which is when the evaluation process started, one that led to the surgery.
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On Sept. 19, the Heat released a statement that read, “Tyler Herro underwent successful surgery today to alleviate posterior impingement syndrome in his left ankle. The 90-minute procedure was performed by Dr. Thomas San Giovanni and assisted by Heat team physicians Dr. Harlan Selesnick and Dr. Frantz Lerebours at Doctors Hospital Surgery Center in Miami. Herro is expected to miss around eight weeks.”
Herro, an All-Star last season for the first time, said he not only expected to get back to himself, but “maybe a higher level.”
As the team’s prime offseason addition, guard Norman Powell said he is ready and willing to help fill the Herro early-season void, comparing it to playing in the injury void of Kawhi Leonard last season with the Los Angeles Clippers.
“Similar,” Powell said, “to my situation last year with Kawhi being out. Having to step in.”
Herro has a contract extension window that opens Wednesday and runs through Oct. 20, the day before the start of the NBA season. Otherwise, he would be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
