The Miami Herald‘s Anthony Chiang recently claimed that Bam Adebayo won’t shy away from recruiting players to join the Miami Heat.
“Everybody loves Bam,” Chiang said when talking about the relationships Adebayo has forged with players on opposing teams. “He’s probably one of the more popular All-Stars when it comes to just Q rating around the NBA, right? Everybody just loves him. Kevin Durant, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum — even [Boston] Celtics guys love Bam. So, it’s just — yeah, that’s — is he gonna — he has Team USA this year. So, there’ll be a chance for him to recruit there. I’ll say this. Bam, he might not admit it publicly, but he’s not afraid of recruiting if that’s what it takes.”
Adebayo ignited Mitchell-to-Miami rumors earlier this month when he made a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) regarding the Cavaliers guard.
https://t.co/9yqj6kEDCB pic.twitter.com/nsYp2WuBmX
— 13am Adebayo💥 (@Bam1of1) May 24, 2024
As Chiang mentioned above, Adebayo is one of the 12 players who will have the distinct honor of representing the USA in the 2024 Olympics.
Adebayo’s terrific two-way play with the Heat during the 2023-24 regular season helped solidify his case for being part of Team USA.
Adebayo averaged 19.3 points per game (the second-highest scoring average of his NBA career) on an efficient 52.1 percent shooting from the field. On top of that, he dished out 3.9 assists per contest in his seventh season in the pros.
The 26-year-old was one of the best offensive players at the center position for Miami, but he truly made his hay on the defensive side of the ball. Across 71 regular-season games with the Heat, Adebayo averaged 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks per contest.
The big man earned a spot on the All-Defensive First Team for his dirty work on the less glamorous end of the floor and also finished third in the league’s Defensive Player of the Year voting, behind only Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama.
Miami’s stint in the 2024 NBA Playoffs was short-lived, considering the team lost to Tatum and the Celtics in five games in the first round, but fans of the Heat should have been happy with Adebayo’s play from an individual perspective against Boston.
Versus the Celtics, he averaged nearly a double-double of 22.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game while also contributing 3.8 assists per contest. He dropped 20 points or more in every game of the series and finished with a series-high 25 points in Miami’s Game 4 loss.
Perhaps Adebayo’s productive 2023-24 campaign with the Heat will be enough to convince some players around the NBA to join him in Miami and play alongside one of the better players in the league today.
