TA In-Depth Analysis: Durant Did It Before Herro, the NBA's Alt-Account Chaos Becomes a League-Wide Problem

On July 13, Beijing time, the incident of Adebayo punching Herro continued to stir debate in NBA media circles. The Athletic (TA) explored the underlying issue, highlighting the NBA's problem with burner accounts, and noted that Durant had previously used a secondary account to trash his teammates. Here is the detailed breakdown——

Inside and outside NBA arenas, physical altercations sparked by verbal insults—whether real or imagined—have a long history. With the rise of social media, players increasingly use anonymous burner accounts, believing they can freely express their true thoughts behind a fake profile without facing any consequences.

Herro personally experienced how online comments can lead to real-world physical confrontations. During the offseason, the Heat and Bucks completed a blockbuster trade: Giannis Antetokounmpo headed to Miami, while Herro was sent to Milwaukee, ending his nearly seven-year tenure with the Heat. His career had many highlights, but now it may be remembered for this conflict with team cornerstone Adebayo.

The Athletic confirmed that early last Friday morning, inside a gym at a Las Vegas resort, Adebayo publicly punched Herro in front of the entire team of kids from Herro's AAU program. The trigger was a chat log between a fan account and a private account allegedly run by Herro.

After the Heat-Bucks blockbuster trade, a fan leaked screenshots of private messages from an account suspected to be Herro's, directly targeting Adebayo's max contract: "Just because you occasionally play elite defense, you deserve a max deal? Does $60 million a year suit you?"

The account also mocked Adebayo's poor mid-range shooting, claiming his 35% accuracy ranked in the bottom third of the league.

The most ironic part is their previous friendship. This past January, the two former teammates appeared together on the Heat's official channel for an interview. At that time, Herro asked Adebayo: "If you got into a fight, which teammate would you trust 100% to have your back?" Adebayo answered almost without hesitation: "I'd pick Herro. We've known each other and played together the longest."

After the Las Vegas incident, their years of camaraderie appear to be completely shattered.

It's perfectly fine for athletes to express personal emotions, but hiding behind a burner account to vent frustrations to strangers is a completely different matter.

If that Instagram private message account truly belongs to Herro, then he is just one of many players and team executives caught up in social media controversies. The NBA should never develop into a league where players throw punches in front of teenage audiences.

Posting bold statements on private messages or social media inherently carries huge risks: one screenshot of a chat can spread your private complaints across the entire internet.

Public figures face exponentially greater risks, as any offhand comment can become a sports headline. Arguing with strangers online is already extremely unwise. Venting privately to friends and family is one thing, but actively engaging with random fans and belittling peers is just asking for trouble.

Fights between players on the court or in the locker room have existed for ages. There was a time when the NBA was known for its physical toughness, with many legendary stars brawling with opponents or teammates, often getting away with just a flagrant foul. It's not surprising that highly competitive athletes lose control during games. But this Las Vegas incident highlights the danger of private online comments easily escalating into real-world violence.

Herro is far from the first player to be physically attacked by a colleague; history is full of similar incidents——

Before the 2000 preseason, then-Raptor Charles Oakley publicly slapped 76er Tyrone Hill over a gambling debt dispute; in April 2001, Oakley was suspended and fined $10,000 for hitting Hill with a ball during practice; later, he was suspended for three games and fined $15,000 for a physical altercation with Clippers guard Jeff McInnis after a verbal exchange.

Zach Randolph once recalled that Blazers teammate Ruben Patterson was a locker room bully, playing rough in practice and once injuring young Randolph's back. Their grudge festered until one practice when Patterson clashed with Qyntel Woods; Randolph stepped in and punched Patterson, breaking his orbital bone, resulting in a $100,000 fine and a two-game suspension.

The most famous recent teammate altercation was when Warriors' Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole during practice in 2022.

These are just a few examples of verbal disputes escalating into physical fights.

Now, with social media and anonymous burner accounts, people dare to say harsh words they would never utter face-to-face, creating more sources of conflict. And once a screenshot leaks, it can never be deleted permanently.

Any athlete who privately disparages a colleague to a fan shows a severe lack of judgment; the cost of exposure is simply too high. Even using a burner account is no guarantee of safety—internet detectives are everywhere, and true anonymity does not exist online.

During his Rockets days, Kevin Durant was accused of using a social media burner account to criticize teammates. This was not his first time involved in a burner account controversy. In 2017, he accidentally forgot to switch out of his burner account while logging in, using it to publicly criticize former Thunder coach Billy Donovan and old teammates, and even referred to himself in the third person. He later publicly apologized.

It's not just players; team executives have also been caught in burner account scandals. Former NBA executive Bryan Colangelo, while with the 76ers in 2018, was exposed for running multiple anonymous accounts to disparage players on his own team, and he resigned afterward.

Adebayo punching a former teammate in front of a group of teenage players is certainly not the right way to resolve a conflict. His actions are both unacceptable and extremely unwise. The $10 million-per-year big man risked injury to himself, and the gym was full of minors, making the situation likely to escalate. At the same time, Adebayo will almost certainly face league discipline.

Even if the leaked screenshots are indeed from Herro, choosing to vent his dissatisfaction with a teammate privately to a random fan is equally baffling and unforgivable. We may never know the full conversation before the punch, but both sides are clearly at fault.

As long as social media and anonymous burner accounts exist, and as long as people are eager to share screenshots, the risk of conflicts between players will never disappear. The root cause is simple: as long as people believe they won't be held accountable for online posts, they will keep typing harsh words without restraint.