Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) reacts after a play against the Boston Celtics in the second half of their NBA game at the Kaseya Center on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in downtown Miami, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
An MRI on Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro revealed a costochondral issue with the right side of his ribs, and he’s unlikely to join the team during its five-game trip that begins Monday night against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
Herro did not travel with the Heat to San Francisco on Sunday for the start of the team’s trip, and he has already been ruled out for Monday’s matchup against the Warriors. The trip also includes games against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday, Utah Jazz on Saturday and Phoenix Suns on Sunday.
Herro, who turns 26 on Tuesday, will miss his second straight game with the rib injury Monday after also being held out of Saturday’s home win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Costochondral refers to the joints where ribs connect to cartilage, and it can be a highly painful injury. The issue is often a matter of pain tolerance, and a timeline for Herro’s return currently remains undetermined.
Monday marks the 32nd game that Herro has missed through the Heat’s first 43 games this season because of various injuries. He missed the first 17 games of the season due to offseason ankle surgery, 13 games because of a toe contusion and now at least two games because of a rib contusion.
This comes after Herro remained healthy enough to play in a career-high 77 games last regular season.
“The one at the beginning of the year, that was just something coming into the season,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Saturday when asked about all of Herro’s missed games this season. “You can’t control that. But there’s going to be daily stuff that happens with everybody. We can’t necessarily look at because you missed the first part of the year that you’re not going to have your normal things that happen in an NBA season. This shouldn’t be long-term. We’ll just continue to treat him and see how he responds.”
Herro, who is eligible for an extension this upcoming offseason, has averaged 21.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and one steal per game while shooting 49.7% from the field and 35.8% from three-point range in his 11 appearances this season.
Along with missing Herro, the Heat will be without Vlad Goldin (G League), Terry Rozier (not with team) and Jahmir Young (G League) on Monday against the Warriors.
But the Heat is expected to get back starting guard Davion Mitchell (left shoulder contusion) and sixth man Jaime Jaquez Jr. (left knee sprain) against the Warriors. Mitchell and Jaquez are both listed as probable to play on Monday after missing the last two games with their injuries.
Meanwhile, the Warriors are expected to have their leading trio of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green available against the Heat.
The Warriors only ruled out Seth Curry (left sciatic nerve irritation), De’Anthony Melton (left knee injury management) and Gui Santos (left ankle sprain) for Monday’s contest. Green is listed as probable with a right ankle sprain.
ALL-STAR ANNOUNCEMENT
The NBA announced the 10 starters for this season’s All-Star Game on Monday afternoon. As expected, the Heat is not represented on that list.
The five Eastern Conference All-Star starters are Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey and Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown.
Whether the Heat is represented in the Feb. 15 NBA All-Star Game, which will take place at Intuit Dome in the Los Angeles area, will come down to the seven All-Star reserves from each conference who are selected by NBA head coaches. The All-Star reserves will be revealed on NBA/Peacock on Feb. 1 at 6 p.m.
Guard Norman Powell and center Bam Adebayo are the Heat’s top candidates for this season’s All-Star Game.
All-Star reserves are being selected this season without regard to position.
Under the new NBA All-Star Game format, two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players (the World team) will compete in a round-robin tournament featuring four 12-minute games for this season’s showcase event. The process for assigning players to the two U.S. teams will be determined at a later date.
The last time the Heat did not have a player make the NBA All-Star Game came in 2021. The Heat has been represented in seven of the last eight NBA All-Star Games.