A recent report indicates that Miami Heat star big man Bam Adebayo is considered to be a “strong candidate” for Team USA in the 2024 Olympics.
“Bam Adebayo, a 2021 Olympic gold medalist who nearly played for the USA this summer, is widely considered a strong candidate for Paris,” The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Joe Vardon wrote.
Adebayo, 26, was selected with the No. 14 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft after a successful one-season stint playing college basketball at the University of Kentucky. He averaged 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per contest across 38 games played with the Wildcats during the 2016-17 season (all starts).
Those numbers were good enough for Adebayo to earn All-SEC honors.
Adebayo’s contributions translated to a whole lot of wins for the Wildcats. They finished the season with a terrific 32-6 record and made it all the way to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight, where they lost to the University of North Carolina by a final score of 75-73. Adebayo finished with 13 points and seven rebounds in the loss.
The 6-foot-9 big man has played six seasons in the NBA, all as a member of the Heat franchise. He averaged 20.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 steals per outing in 75 games played with Miami during the 2022-23 regular season (all starts).
Adebayo managed to carry over his excellent play from the 2022-23 regular season into the 2023 postseason. He was the Heat’s No. 2 option during their NBA Finals run, behind only star wing Jimmy Butler, as he averaged 17.9 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game across 23 playoff appearances with the Heat.
Arguably Adebayo’s best series of the 2023 postseason came in the NBA Finals against Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets. He averaged 21.8 points, 12.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for the series while shooting 45.5 percent from the field. Adebayo’s heroics weren’t enough for the Heat to beat the Nuggets, however, as they lost the championship series in five games.
Here’s to hoping that Adebayo will end up playing for Team USA during the 2024 Olympics. Team USA would likely be wise to recruit Adebayo, considering he’s one of the best two-way big men in the NBA.