Tyler Herro’s Sideline Fits Are a Sight to Behold

Tyler Herro, the 2000s babies’ fit god, played all of 19 playoff minutes for the Miami Heat before he broke his hand, sidelining him for the team’s improbable run into the conference finals. But! That hasn’t stopped him from contributing, both in unwavering support for his teammates and the unmistakable vibe he brings to the bench. Because his injury has limited Herro to a sideline role, his main addition to these playoffs have been showcasing the bangers he was keeping in the closet. 

There have been several…highlights?...from the past month. When he had a bright pink cast on his broken hand—signed by some of his teammates, natch—he paired it with a camo Elias beanie and necklace that looked very “I made this for you at summer camp.”

This pink knit cardigan and backward hat, meanwhile, was a sort of modern fashion guy twist on the ‘90s teen heartthrob. Imagine if Shawn Hunter from Boy Meets World lived in Miami with 120 million dollars of guaranteed money.   

He also pulled up to one game dressed like Slim Shady in 2003. 

In a lot of ways, Herro is this year’s Ben Simmons, the Nets’ enigma who has done much more sideline stunting than basketball playing in recent years—and especially last season, when he seemed to delight in dressing freakily while watching his Nets stumble out of the playoffs. Simmons had his green Prada ensemble and crazy colorful outfits; Herro has a seemingly endless supply of Palm Angels, leather, and funky pants.

He does not lack for a statement piece, and is definitely too young to know that a fuzzy bucket hat makes him look like Jamiroquai. Tuesday night’s purple bucket hat (no fuzz) was the latest and greatest from the 23-year-old. 

Of course, dressing quite so aggressively means you’re going to have haters, including TNT analyst Stan Van Gundy, the former NBA coach who could not resist lighting Herro up.

Personally, at least, I struggle with some of these decisions. But it’s also undeniable that lots of people—Herro has 2.2 million Instagram followers, surely not all people who idolize his jump shot—think he looks cool and good. So what’s going on here? Is Herro dressing for a bit, or because he thinks he looks great? His Twitter handle is @raf_tyler, after all. He's definitely in the know when it comes to designer brands, but have these playoff looks been an intentional effort to be seen or is this just really how the kids are dressing?

To answer the question, I texted my Gen Z sister. She is much closer to Herro’s age than my age—and, helpfully, isn’t familiar with the Heat’s fashionista, making her an objective observer. She went directly to his Instagram, and came back with, “I like all his fits in his recent Instagram post.” (For transparency, like any good zoomer, that text—like every text she sends—was in all lowercase.) Her response to the light blue fuzzy bucket hat was “oh i love the hat.” (She is firmly pro-bucket hat.) As for the get-up that Van Gundy made fun of on national television, she said, “it seems the pants are striped and i don’t like that but i do like the hat.”

There you have it, folks. If you were born in the 2000s, there’s a decent possibility you live on Bucket Hat Island—whether you’re a goofy millionaire basketball player or a college freshman texting me from her dorm. And if you think Tyler Herro needs to work on his style, well, you’re probably just washed.