Heat’s Robinson dishes on his emergence, biggest frustration and what angers Spoelstra
From Duncan Robinson’s biggest frustration this season to Tyler Herro’s first purchase as NBA player, the Heat’s young sharp-shooters offered unique insight in interviews released this week, Robinson with New Orleans Pelicans guard JJ Redick and Herro in a GQ video.
Robinson, during a lively conversation on Redick’s podcast, dished on several topics:
▪ On his biggest frustration during a season in which he set the Heat franchise record for most three-pointers in a season:
“The thing that frustrates me the most right now is the grabbing. I will try to leave early on a pindown or whatever and I get grabbed. I don’t get respect to complain to these officials at this time of my career so I’ve got to deal with it.”
▪ On four-point plays: “I don’t get any. I’ve gotten one all year. I get hit on my wrist all the time. I don’t shot fake into somebody. What happens if [I lean in on a three-pointer and] they don’t call it [on the defender]? I don’t have the moxie, the confidence to do that yet.”
▪ Redick asked him if Erik Spoelstra yells at him when he dribbles inside the 3-point line.
Robinson admitted that has happened “occasionally” but that Spoelstra is more likely to get mad “if I pass up shooting from the three-point line. He loves to point out when I don’t shoot it and it leads to a turnover.”
▪ Redick spoke of getting shots off at the end of the shot clock, when the defender jumps, and he leans in.
“I always have regret over one or two times every game, I could have done it there,” Robinson said. “The staff is like, ‘We’re OK if it happens and you don’t get [the foul]. We need you learn how to do this.’”
▪ Robinson’s best trash-talking story: “I actually feel bad about it. We played Toronto in Miami and they put [Fred] Van Vleet on me.” Van Vleet, at 6-0, is seven inches shorter than Robinson.
“First play, I hit a shot and I was in the moment and said it to myself, but he heard me, I said something like, ‘He’s way too short to guard me.’ I have a ton of respect for Fred Van Vleet. He heard me and fired something back. We kind of started going at it. It was going in this place where I really didn’t want it to go. Halfway through the game, I said, ‘I have a ton of respect for you, undrafted guy. I’m undrafted. You kind of laid the blueprint.’”
▪ Redick asked him if he feels challenged as a “white shooter.” Robinson said: “Yes, first and foremost defensively. That’s something I’ve been dealing with my whole life.”
▪ Redick spoke of the “burden of being a shooter,...the expectation of making shots.”
“For me, it can be crippling for sure,” Robinson said. “I went undrafted, played summer league with the Heat. I got to training camp three weeks straight and I didn’t make a shot, whether live or pickup, coach in the gym or not.”
And then, before this season, “I couldn’t make a shot in preseason. I shot 26 percent from three. The doubt starts to creep in. People are like, ‘Why is Spo playing this guy?’ Nobody in AmericanAirlines [Arena] thought any of my shots were going in.”
▪ Redick mentioned that Robinson’s evolution has been “a very Disney-esque story.”
Robinson said: “I certainly didn’t expect any of this. I learned in my career not to expect things…. I do have extreme confidence in myself. I know I can really shoot, but you want to see the ball go through at this level and prove you can do it at this level surrounded by guys you grew up watching on TV.”
▪ Robinson, who can become a restricted free agent in 2021, said of the Heat: “I love everything they stand for and it’s a huge reason why I have been able to get where I am in my career.”
Redick and Robinson covered several other topics, and we recommend a listen here.
Robinson entered the NBA’s hiatus third in the league in threes with 237, behind James Harden (271) and Buddy Hield (241). Robinson is shooting 45 percent on threes, among the highest in NBA history for players with that many threes.
Meanwhile, Herro explained how he spent his first $1 million as an NBA player:
$200,000 on a Mercedes, $85,000 on clothes, $80,000 on a Porsche for his mother; $60,000 on an apartment for himself; $60,000 on a Jeep for himself; $40,000 on a truck for his father; $30,000 on a chain for his neck; $20,000 for a personal chef; $10,000 on 10 pairs of eyeglasses and $5000 on a Gucci Purse for his mother when he was in New York (his first purchase after signing his four-year, $17.2 million deal with the Heat).
Herro also paid an artist $4000 to create a painting with visuals of Herro over the years and also spent $10,000 on custom paintings around his apartment.
And he said he will spend $10,000 going out to dinner this year, with Prime 112 his favorite restaurant.
“I feel I can do a little more spending,” he said. “Something I always wanted to do was take care of my family.”
And he has certainly done that, with vehicles for both of his parents.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 10:48 PM.
