Miami Heat star big man Bam Adebayo conceded that Twitter trolls have bothered him before in his NBA career.
“We bust our ass every day in these gyms,” Adebayo said. “And you’ve got some dude on Twitter saying this and that about your game. Yeah, we take offense to that.
“I don’t look at it because I know what it can do to some people’s mentals. I’m strong-minded, but you see something crazy on Twitter and it’s just highly disrespectful, and as a man, you’re bound to respond.”
NBA players like Adebayo receive a lot of criticism from fans, and it’s important to realize that these players are humans too and are affected by negative comments and criticism.
Adebayo certainly has made it tough for trolls to target him, as he’s improved each year in his NBA career. Adebayo made the All-Star team in the 2019-20 season, and he’s become one of the league’s best defensive players as well.
This season, Adebayo set a career-high in points per game (19.1) during the regular season while shooting 55.7 percent from the field.
In addition to that, Adebayo averaged 10.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. He does a little bit of everything for the Heat, and yet, he still finds himself getting criticized by fans on social media.
One way Adebayo can silence the trolls this season is by leading the Heat to an NBA title. Miami has the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and currently is up 3-1 on the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs.
The University of Kentucky product’s scoring has dropped off in the postseason (10.5 points per game), but he’s still helped Miami hold the Hawks to under 100 points in two games in their series.
Adebayo and the Heat will look to advance to the second round when Game 5 tips off on Tuesday night at FTX Arena in Miami.
