Miami Heat star big man Bam Adebayo admitted that he’s constantly up late watching film and taking notes, but he saves his texts for “insomniac” Erik Spoelstra for the morning.
“My coach is an insomniac,” Adebayo told ESPN. “I know he’s up watching [film] too. But I save the texts for the morning.”
Spoelstra then went on to discuss how Adebayo has steadily improved over the past few seasons.
“That’s the life of great players in this league,” Spoelstra told ESPN. “You shoulder a lot of responsibilities. People haven’t really noticed how he’s improved each year and it really started in the playoffs four years ago how he was being guarded and he went to work in the offseason on really developing a go-to shot right in the middle of the paint.”
Adebayo is arguably playing the best basketball of his NBA career so far during the 2023-24 regular season. He is averaging career-highs in points (22.0) and rebounds (10.4) per game while shooting 50.6 percent from the field and 77.7 percent from the free-throw line across 23 appearances with the Heat.
The 26-year-old is fresh off an impressive performance against the Los Angeles Clippers on Jan. 1. In 36 minutes of playing time, Adebayo dropped a team-high 21 points to go along with 15 rebounds and four assists.
But despite getting a big game from Adebayo, the Heat lost to the Clippers by a final score of 121-104 behind a 24-point performance from Los Angeles wing Kawhi Leonard. Leonard also chipped in six rebounds, five assists, four steals and one block while shooting 10-of-19 from the floor and 2-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc in 34 minutes of action.
Miami is now riding a two-game losing streak.
The Heat currently own the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference at 19-14 and are far away from taking the No. 3 seed from the Philadelphia 76ers, seeing as how Miami is four games back of Philadelphia in the standings. The 76ers are 23-10 on the season and have won seven of their last 10 games.
Adebayo and the Heat’s next chance to snap their losing streak is on the horizon. Miami will play the Los Angeles Lakers on the road on Wednesday night.
Like the Heat, the Lakers haven’t been at their best of late. The team is also riding a two-game losing streak, with its losses coming against the Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans. The Lakers lost to the Timberwolves by two points on Dec. 30 and Pelicans by 20 on Dec. 31.
If Adebayo’s gaudy numbers so far this season are any indication, his nights spent watching film and taking notes are paying dividends.