Howard’s lawyer says cornerback not involved in Atlanta shooting
Miami Dolphins star cornerback Xavien Howard’s name appears on police documents in the “additional names list” portion for an unsolved Atlanta-area shooting from last summer in which no one was hurt but one round pierced a child’s playroom.
The home is owned by sports agent Damarius Bilbo, who represented Howard until he was fired in late October.
Dunwoody, Georgia, police on multiple occasions have requested an interview Howard, but he has declined to speak with them directly.
Howard has been in communication with Dunwoody’s police through his attorney Darren Heitner, who said on Sunday he has spoken with the investigating officers multiple times, and has even sought updates on the case’s status.
“Xavien was not involved in this incident and there is no evidence to suggest otherwise,” Heitner said speaking on Howard’s behalf.
Also named in the June 29 police report about the shooting were Ray Gibson, 29; Angelica Brown, 27, whose car was spotted at the crime scene; and Leonardo “Ken” Underwood, 45, an associate of Howard, who appeared to be in contact with Gibson multiple times on the day of the shooting before it happened, according to a report by The Miami Herald.
The Dunwoody police department was not available for comment, or to provide an update on the case Sunday morning.
According to a league source, the Dolphins have had knowledge of this matter for months, and are aware of Howard ending his business relationship with Bilbo, who negotiated the five-year, $76.5 million extension the cornerback signed with Miami before the 2019 season.
Biblo leads the football division of Klutch Sports Group, which is owned by LeBron James’ agent Rich Paul.
Howard and Biblo had a contract grievance that was settled over the summer.
After it was settled, Howard kept Bilbo on as his agent for three months until firing him.
Howard, who led the NFL with 10 interceptions and was a candidate for the league’s Defensive Player of the Year honors, has since signed with South Florida-based agent David Canter. But until Canter gets Howard a new deal, Bilbo will receive a commission on the four years that remain on his current deal, which will pay the cornerback $12.1 million this season, and has the potential to pay him $13 million in 2022.
However, this year concludes the final portion of the guaranteed money aspect of the deal, and Howard and his camp have been pushing to get the contract reworked, likely so he could regain his status as one of the NFL’s three highest-paid cornerbacks.
Last offseason the Dolphins signed Byron Jones to a five-year, $82.5 million contract that guaranteed him $46 million, and the deals Jalen Ramsey, Marlon Humphrey and Tre’Davious White got last offseason turned Howard into the sixth highest-paid cornerback in the league.
The Miami Heat’s backcourt rotation could take another hit heading into the final matchup of their road trip.
Tyler Herro was listed as questionable for the Heat’s Monday game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena, which closes out their seven-game road trip — tied for the longest in the franchise’s history.
Herro, who has been coming off the bench recently, did not play in the second half of the Heat’s win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday because of a right hip contusion he sustained in the game’s first half.
He recorded five points, four rebounds and three assists in 14 minutes before leaving Saturday’s matchup because of the injury.
The Heat have been without guards Avery Bradley and Goran Dragic during their road trip due to Bradley’s strained right calf and Dragic’s sprained left ankle.
Meyers Leonard (shoulder) and Chris Silva (hip) remain sidelined.
Bradley, who’s missed the team’s last nine games and has only appeared in 10 of its 30 contests due to contracting COVID-19 and a knee injury that preceded his calf ailment, is hoping to return to the floor before the Heat’s first half of the season ends on March 4 against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Dragic has missed the team’s last eight games since sustaining the ankle injury against the Washington Wizards on Feb. 5. The Heat are hopeful he’ll be able to rejoin the team during their four-game homestand that starts on Wednesday versus the Toronto Raptors at AmericanAirlines Arena. They have home matchups against the Utah Jazz on Friday and Atlanta Hawks next Sunday before ending the homestand versus the Hawks on March 2.
The potential absence of Herro — who’s averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists through 22 games this season — from Monday’s game could mean more playing time for two-way guards Max Strus and Gabe Vincent, with Vincent listed as probable for Monday’s game due to knee soreness.
Strus stepped into Herro’s place in the rotation in the second half of Saturday’s game.
He scored two points on 1-of-9 shooting from the field and an uncharacteristic 0-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. Strus entered Saturday’s game shooting 42.2 percent from beyond the arc (27 of 64) through 16 games, with his cold 3-point shooting against the Lakers bringing his 3-point percentage down to 37.5.
“Max played well,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said following Saturday’s game. “He gave us some good defensive minutes. He gave us a spark. I liked his aggressiveness to keep on his shooting those open looks. Not a lot of players would continue to be aggressive and that was the right play.”
Spoelstra has lately gone backand-forth when it comes to which of the team’s two-way guards will receive rotation minutes.
If Herro isn’t available for Monday, both could be relied upon against the Thunder.
“I love our two-way guys, in Max and Gabe,” Spoelstra said. “They’re both plug-and-play guys. And that’s unique. We still think they both have great upside. But we feel very comfortable playing them in games where their minutes are significant and we need production.”
“Right now, I think we need a little bit more ball-handling. But I feel really comfortable with either one of them, depending on the context of the game.”
Starting guard George Hill remains out for the Thunder due to a procedure he underwent earlier in the month to address a thumb injury he sustained last month. Hill has missed the Thunder’s last 15 games.