Bam Adebayo Made Intriguing Comment About Pat Riley After Heat's Playoff Exit

Eva Geitheim | May 1, 2025

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) dribbles the basketball against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the third quarter during game three for the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Miami Heat's tumultuous season came to an end on Monday after they were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the postseason. Even with the drama surrounding the team this season before they traded Jimmy Butler, the Heat did manage to make the postseason through the NBA play-in tournament. Still, Miami received a heavy wake up call as they lost three of their four games to the Cavaliers by over 20 points, a reminder that they are far from contention.

After the final loss of the series, Bam Adebayo said he believes there will be a lot of change to the Heat roster over the summer.

"I don't know, it's gonna be a lot of changes this summer, just from my point of view, understanding how the guy with the silver hair works. So, just be prepared for that," Adebayo said on Monday. "And for me, man, it's understanding, gotta figure out how to win a game in the playoffs. You understand how hard it is when you actually get into these trenches. So, you take that and you figure it out."

On Wednesday, Adebayo was asked what "tweaks" he'd like to see to the team to help them return to contention. Adebayo deferred to Heat executive Pat Riley, joking that he hopes the reporter can ask Riley the question without getting ignored.

“At the end of the day I want to win," Adebayo said. "I can't really go into logistics of the tweaks and everything. I feel that’s a Pat Riley question. I hope you can ask that question to him and he doesn’t blow you off and ignore you. He knows my mentality, he knows I want to win. We want to be in the best way possible to do that. After he talks to you, he'll probably talk to me, and we'll figure out what happens."

Bam Adebayo asked what changes he’d like to see this summer after his game 4 comment postgame

“That’s a Pat Riley question. I hope you can ask that question to him and he doesn’t blow you off and ignore you” 😭 pic.twitter.com/twnGVyA8q7

— Heat Culture (@HeatCulture13) April 30, 2025

It's set be a busy offseason for Adebayo, Riley, and the Heat, but the question will be if they can pull off the right moves to truly contend for the first time since Butler's departure.

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