MIAMI — Before looking ahead to what will be a summer of significant decisions for the Miami Heat, coach Erik Spoelstra paused Wednesday to reflect on one particular moment at the end of his team’s run to within three victories of an NBA championship.
Two days after his team’s season came to an end in Game 5 of the NBA Finals in Denver, Spoelstra expanded on the difficulty of his decision to hold out guard Tyler Herro on the night Herro was cleared to return two months after breaking his right hand in the team’s April 16 playoff opener.
“There’s no perfect answer to that,” Spoelstra said of the situation that left Herro disappointed, with Herro declining comment both after Monday night’s loss at Ball Arena and then declining to meet with the media Wednesday as the team emptied lockers one final time. “But certainly, yes, I do have empathy for Tyler. He’s a competitor, so I know how he felt after the game.
