Bam Adebayo on the verge of becoming the Miami Heat's next superstar
It was easily Miami Heat guard Jimmy Butler's favorite moment of the season.
Butler sat back and watched teammate Bam Adebayo soak up every bit of his first NBA All-Star experience three months ago in Chicago. It proved Adebayo belonged in the conversation with the league's elite players.
"Being able to be a part of Bam's first All-Star Game and seeing the look on his face and the smile on his face," Butler said in a recent Instagram live interview. "But not only how happy it made him, that confidence that it gave him knowing that he belonged there ... I think that's huge for him."
In just his third season, Adebayo went from budding player to possibly the Heat's next superstar. He was averaging 16.2 points, 10.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists before the coronavirus outbreak suspended the season March 11. The production is proof the Heat made the right decision to make him a priority last offseason.
When coach Erik Spoelstra named him the starting center during exit interviews a year ago, it signaled the end for Hassan Whiteside. He was sent to the Portland Trail Blazers, making Adebayo the Heat's primary big man. The organization also kept Adebayo out of trade discussions when they were trying to acquire Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul last summer.
It was the Heat's way of saying they were all in with Adebayo.
Adebayo has made team president Pat Riley and Spoelstra look like visionaries. Butler has already called Adebayo the best teammate he has played with. Retired Heat center Chris Bosh called him his favorite player.
Earlier this month, Riley compared him to Dwyane Wade, the most decorated player in franchise history.
“He reminds me a lot of Dwyane, in Dwyane’s attitude,” Riley said. "Dwyane came in, he was a no-nonsense guy. He went right to work. And he became a great player. And he had an attitude and a competitiveness and a killer instinct, besides the talent. But he had this attitude that was above and beyond."I think that's what Bam is. Bam possesses this attitude about doing it the right way and doing it every day."
Riley has been high on Adebayo since the day he was drafted. When Adebayo was introduced to the local media in 2017, Riley said his jersey would one day be retired at AmericanAirlines Arena.
So far, everything appears on schedule.
"He's on the cusp of being a superstar," said one veteran Western Conference scout, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "The more they ask of him, the better he has played. His skill level has increased tremendously in only a year and a half. There's not a lot that rattles him and that's probably why it was easy for him to take on more responsibility on the floor."
Adebayo is already on par with his idol Kevin Garnett, who he patterned his game after. Garnett averaged 18.5 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists at the same stage of his career.
Adebayo says the Heat's trust in him served as a big motivator entering the season. He also began the year wanting to prove doubters wrong after he was cut by Team USA.
“It wasn’t tough at all," Adebayo said at the time. "I knew where I was going, I was going back to Miami to work on my game.”
Deep down, it bothered him. He made that clear recently when he posted a Team USA practice clip on Twitter. The caption read: "I Wasn't Ready Though."
Apparently, he is now.
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