NBA blockbuster trade revives a messy locker-room storyline

A massive NBA trade that sent Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat has generated an off-court storyline as well as basketball headlines. As part of the deal, Tyler Herro moved to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he is expected to share a locker room with Kyle Kuzma.

Fans on social media quickly resurfaced an old relationship angle: Herro’s longtime partner and mother of his two children, Katya Elise Henry, once dated Kuzma. Their romance drew heavy attention in 2018 and 2019, and after they split, Henry went public with the line that Kuzma “couldn’t handle me,” a remark that spread widely among NBA fans.

Henry and Herro began dating during the COVID period in 2020 after she invited him to spend time with her. The relationship moved quickly, and the two have stayed together since, building a family with two children. Over the years, Henry also became a social-media celebrity, with luxury photos, fashion shoots and cryptic posts regularly attracting basketball fan attention.

One particularly viral episode came when Henry briefly unfollowed Herro on Instagram and posted a message saying, “It hurts,” which fueled cheating rumors before Herro responded with family photos and the couple stayed together. Their connection to Kuzma and Herro also resurfaced during the 2020 NBA Finals in the Orlando bubble, when Herro’s Miami team faced Kuzma’s Los Angeles Lakers. Now, six years later, they could end up teammates, although Kuzma is currently dating model Winnie Harlow and no one involved has suggested the past still matters. Herro described the Milwaukee move as “a new beginning,” and U.S. reports say the Bucks are still exploring additional trades, including possible moves involving Kuzma.