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Teammates getting into it? No matter how bad it gets, it usually becomes breaking news material. Often framed in a sensationalized way, by the time those stories reach readers, it can feel like something truly awful happened inside a locker room somewhere around the league.
Those who have actually lived through those situations, however, often have a more nuanced view. Take former NBA player Iman Shumpert. He recently shared his, one worth hearing before simply jumping to conclusions.
A former Heat duo came to blows
When Shumpert sat down for the latest episode of "Shump Street," the conversation eventually turned to the biggest story in the NBA right now. LeBron James is still a free agent. Word on his next move should drop soon. Still, the hottest topic is actually a former Miami Heat duo.
That duo recently got into it in Las Vegas.
Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo, teammates for seven seasons in South Beach, reportedly had a physical altercation during Summer League. There has been plenty of speculation about what set Adebayo off. Much of it seems to center on what Herro did after his recent trade to the Milwaukee Bucks. Alleged messages surfaced showing him criticizing the three-time All-Star.
A player actually going after another teammate hasn't happened since the infamous Draymond Green-Jordan Poole incident. That said, it was only natural that Shumpert was asked if he had ever seen something like that up close.
Turns out the former 10-year NBA veteran has. More than once. And according to Shumpert, those situations can sometimes lead to something positive. When it plays out that way, the 36-year-old Illinois native even sees it as a "beautiful thing."
The upside of conflict
Shumpert pointed to a familiar locker room scene. Two guys who can't stand each other for one week. Then they hash it out. Sometimes it takes a shouting match. Sometimes it gets more physical. It doesn't matter because the next thing you know, they're winning together. He said some of his best seasons followed that pattern.
Shumpert also believes something happens when teammates clash and still come out the other side united. It sets a tone. Having dealt with that one issue, rather than letting it linger, tells the group they can handle whatever comes next, too. And during a season, there is a lot that could come.
Shumpert, meanwhile, sees it as a sign of a competitive locker room. Everyone cares. Sometimes that’s enough for emotions to spill over. On the flip side, players who don’t care about winning usually aren’t getting into it. In his view, that kind of friction can also show the two squabblers have actually more in common than it seems.
“Sometimes it really got to go down and the smoke got to clear for all of us to look at each other and say, ‘Hey man, we got something special here. We need to stay together,’” Shumpert said.
The 2016 champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers then added a key point. Simply throwing punches should never be normal. Still, there are times when an altercation can reset things, allowing two competitors to start pulling in the same direction again.
That’s certainly not applicable to Adebayo and Herro, though. For one, they’re no longer teammates. And second, even if they were, they’d more than likely want some distance from each other right now.
