Truth Bomb: Tyler Herro Drops Reality Check on…
As the Miami Heat take on the Detroit Pistons Tuesday night, it will be the first game in the second annual in-season tournament, which was renamed to the Emirates NBA Cup. The Heat have momentum after they beat the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday night, led by a game-winning bucket from Nikola Jovic and another impressive outing from Tyler Herro as he spoke about the benefits of the tourney.
Miami looks to add another piece of hardware to the organization, which would be the NBA Cup, which was won by the Los Angeles Lakers in the inaugural tourney last season. The team is looking to turn their fortunes around after not making it past the group stage.
Heat’s Tyler Herro on the cash prize of the NBA Cup
However, the past is in the rearview mirror of the Heat, and they are focused on the season in front of them, which includes the in-season tournament. If there is an incentive for the players, each player on the winning team was awarded $500,000 last season, which could be larger this time around.
According to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, “This season, the cash prizes are expected to be slightly higher because of negotiated raises as part of the latest collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and National Basketball Players Association.” Herro would speak about the increased motivation from players to care about the tournament due to the cash prize.
“It’s something to play for and everybody on the team gets the same prize,” Herro said via Chiang of The Miami Herald. “So I think it is a motivation for all the guys that want to compete for something and compete for their teammates, especially early on.”
Last season, players on the runner-up team got $200,000 each, the ones that lost in the semifinals got $100,000, and the specific players on the team that lost in the quarterfinals got $50,000. Herro for sure sees the benefit in it, which could be more motivation for him to continue with his impeccable season so far.
