Bam Adebayo needs to convince D-Wade, others, in final stretch

This last stretch of the Miami Heat season, for Bam Adebayo, is about belief.

He seems to believe this team is better than its barely-above-.500 record, as evidenced this season by wins against Houston, Detroit, Denver, Oklahoma City and New York -- and which is undercut by losses to Utah, Indiana and Sacramento.

But can he make his teammates believe?

Can he make former Heat greats, like Dwyane Wade, believe?

Can he make skeptical Heat fans believe?

The Heat captain and defensive anchor has only 21 games to do so, and to do so while the Heat will be without Norman Powell for a while due to a groin injury. While Saturday's win against Houston was a good start, and Tuesday's home game against Brooklyn allows Miami to continue some momentum, this will still be an uphill battle.

It may start, actually, with Adebayo getting his coach, Erik Spoelstra, to believe in his pairing with second-year center Kel'el Ware, a pairing that was largely responsible for Saturday's win. Adebayo has been adamant about wanting Ware with him -- if not as a starter, then for significant minutes -- to give Miami more overall size. But Ware has sometimes lost the trust of the coach.

Bam Adebayo spoke about the on-court duo with Kel’el Ware. Says he brought the energy as Spo challenged him in walkthrough.

In second clip, talked about the relationship.

“I feel like he listens to me, sometimes, he kind of ignores Spo,” Adebayo said as he smiled. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/HpPyYTI23G
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 1, 2026

So it's on Adebayo to make sure Ware doesn't drift, and do anything that displeases Spoelstra enough that smallball ensues.

"I feel like he listens to me," Adebayo said. "Sometimes, he kind of ignores Spo."

In a post-game interview with his mentor, Udonis Haslem -- who is now an Amazon Prime host -- Adebayo said of Ware, "He wants to learn, he wants to figure it out. For Spo, man, he just gotta give him the opportunities to make mistakes. Now, sometimes, the mistakes be crazy. As you can he's a talent, he can get a double-double with his eyes closed."

Udonis Haslem asked Bam about sharing the court with Kel'el Ware:

"He wants to learn, he wants to figure it out. For Spo man, he just gotta give him the opportunities to make mistakes. Now sometimes, the mistakes be crazy. As you can see hes a talent, he can get a double double… pic.twitter.com/444LegSNzW
— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) February 28, 2026

There's very little on this roster that can help Miami raise a level.... but that duo being dynamic together. And maybe if it is, Adebayo can get one of his mentors -- and now media guy -- Dwyane Wade to believe as well. Wade, who knows the difference between mediocre and elite Miami Heat teams because he played on both, has been lukewarm in his sentiments about this one.

He's even shared that in voice notes to Adebayo, one that told him essentially that the record speaks for itself, no matter what Adebayo says about potential.

Then they had this exchange Saturday, on Amazon's stream:

Adebayo: "The thing that frustrates me is you see it. You see games like that where its like how do we not get out the play in? How does that not become a consistent effort.... We just have to show the world we can get out of this play in cause obviously some of my OGs (3) sent me a voice message acting like we couldn't do it."

Wade: "I wanna see it."

Bam Adebayo on the Heat win and to Dwyane Wade 👀

Bam: The thing that frustrates me is you see it. You see games like that where its like how do we not get out the play in? How does that not become a consistent effort.... We just have to show the world we can get out of this… https://t.co/vV3EA4xZHh pic.twitter.com/Qf4slIpsso
— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) February 28, 2026

We've seen three-quarters of the season, and it's been OK, but nothing special.

There's still time on the clock to change some minds and, after he and Ware beat the Rockets, maybe Bam Adebayo can beat the buzzer.