Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo is still years away from his 30th birthday, yet he already ranks near the top among all players in franchise history in total rebounds grabbed.
As of Tuesday, Adebayo has racked up 4,852 rebounds during his time with the Heat. Only one player sits above Adebayo on the all-time rebounding list in team history, and that’s none other than Heat legend Udonis Haslem. Haslem totaled 5,791 in a Miami uniform and was a member of the Heat for all three of their titles in franchise history.
Following Adebayo’s 15-rebound showing in a win over the Washington Wizards on March 3, Haslem quipped that he doesn’t want to witness Adebayo break his rebounding record.
”I love him… but I don’t love him that much,” Haslem said.
Adebayo has been a reliable threat to rack up lots of rebounds on a game-to-game basis for years now, and this season has been no different. Across 58 games played (all starts) with the Heat, he’s averaging a whopping 9.9 rebounds per game, 2.6 of which are coming on the offensive glass.
Additionally, he’s averaged 10-plus rebounds per game in a season three times and pulled down a career-high 10.4 per contest in the 2023-24 campaign.
What makes it impressive that Adebayo is somewhat within arm’s reach of Haslem’s record right now is just how long Haslem stuck around in the league. Although he spent much of the tail end of his playing career on the bench, he still logged 20 seasons in the NBA in total, with his swan song in the league coming in the 2022-23 season.
Adebayo, on the other hand, is amid his eighth season in Miami after he was selected by the Heat with the No. 14 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
The former University of Kentucky star will hope to dominate the glass once again and snap a lengthy winning streak when the Heat take on the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena on Wednesday night.
The Cavaliers are winners of each of their last 10 contests, and their most recent loss came to the defending champion Boston Celtics a month ago all the way back on Feb. 4.
