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But the trophy that Adebayo continues to chase is the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. He has played in two NBA Finals (2020 and 2023) during his career since being drafted by the Heat in 2017, but has yet to win a title. Adebayo’s hope is the Heat’s offseason addition of two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo will help him reach that goal in the coming years. “You look forward to it,” Adebayo said Sunday when asked about the Heat’s blockbuster trade for Antetokounmpo. “You look forward to the excitement around the season. I feel like Pat [Riley] has been trying to get somebody at that star level for a while now. So being able to have that shift and that change, we’re looking for growth. We’re looking to obviously win games and have some growth.” Adebayo and Antetokounmpo, who share the same agent in Alex Saratsis, already worked out together in Las Vegas in July. “We’re ready to get to work,” Adebayo said of his initial conversations with Antetokounmpo following his move to the Heat. “The goal is to win a championship. That’s his mindset. We have a like mindset when it comes to that. So those conversations were really about winning.”
When asked who his favorite Miami Heat teammate was, Bam Adebayo promptly said, “I’m gonna have to go with Giannis (Antetokounmpo).” “You look forward to the excitement around the season,” Adebayo said of his reaction to Miami acquiring Antetokounmpo. “I feel like (Heat team president) Pat (Riley) has been trying to get somebody of that star level for a while, so being able to have that shift change and that change … man, we’re looking for growth and to obviously win games.”
Heat Central: Pat Riley admits he has given up full control over almost everything in the Heat organization: “I love the people I work with, they’ve been with me 30 years… All the department heads, I’ve given up control. Which was the hardest thing for me to do. To give up control over almost everything and every decision, everything… I don’t say give up the power because I don’t think I ever had it. I was given a title by Micky as the head coach and president” (Via @LeBatardShow)
Heat Central: The Miami Heat’s main priority is to add shooting and Klay Thompson is at the TOP of the list, per @ShamsCharania “They want shooting. That is the priority. I know what Pat Riley said ‘I want playmaking’. I think that was a special case to LeBron James…. But now they’re really looking for shooting and Klay Thompson is at the top of their list”
"You can see from the end of the season ... the emotional attachments and how hard it is to go away from a Miami and go away from a Cleveland," Paul said on his "Game Over" podcast with Max Kellerman. "Who wouldn't want to play with Steph Curry and Draymond Green. I'm seeing the emotional roller coaster every single day. "... Home is home [in Cleveland]. Miami is Miami. It's Pat [Riley]. ... I think that everyone was at some point leading the race."
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Heat Central: Chris Bosh speaks on making things right with the Heat organization when he got his jersey retired: “It was really on the Heat to do that. Speaking with those in charge, Pat Riley, Nick and Micky, they were so cordial during the process. We had to make amends. There was some battles with me trying to come back and play and all that stuff. Having my name up there in the rafters next to Shaq, D Wade, Hardaway, Haslem, that’s the greatest. Alonzo mourning. I have to stunt on the NBA players. If you think you’ll have a career like mine you gotta go to Miami and look up there. You gotta long way to go. It’s a long way up there… if you’re lucky you get to do what you love. I love basketball… two championships, I couldn’t make it up if I wanted too.” (Via nbataketwo YT)
Heat Central: Giannis explains why he calls Pat Riley ‘Mr. Pat’ “I call him Mr. Pat. He told me ‘just call me Pat’ nah, he’s a legend. You got to show people like that respect. I went to his office. It’s a different feeling. Kind of intimidating… He’s a good guy to have in your corner and I’m excited to play for him. I’m excited that I’m here. I’m going to do whatever I can to help this team be great.” (Via IG mikecugnocbs4)
Heat Central: Tim Hardaway Sr. on LeBron James to the Miami Heat: “I will say this, the longer it goes I think the Miami Heat have the best shot at getting him. The longer it goes, Pat Riley can convince you. — I think Miami is the best fit for him skill set wise. They need another ball handler” (Via @SiriusXMNBA)
As for the Adebayo-Herro incident in Las Vegas, where Adebayo confronted Herro about social-media posts and it got physical on a practice court a week ago during NBA Summer League, Riley said he wished it didn’t happen. “I didn’t like it,” Riley said, with neither the Heat nor the NBA taking further action.
Herro on social media had cast Adebayo as a limited offensive player and therefore overpaid. “I didn’t even know he was upset. Because I read it and I didn’t like it,” Riley said of the postings by Herro, who was sent out to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Antetokounmpo trade. “I didn’t like what I read and I think those kind of comments, and that’s what, as I say, social media has consequences, and so he got offended by it and I don’t think they had time to talk about it or anything like that, but it happened.” Riley added, “Both of them are very competitive men and I was sorry to see that it happened, and I was even more sorry to see that what happened with Bam.”
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“And LeBron and I, we haven’t talked much, but you let go of that stuff,” Riley continued in the interview that was taped Friday. “I mean, I was very disappointed because I thought we were looking at a dynasty, something dynastic. And we now had a chance to add other players to it in 2014. And when he left, it was very, very disappointing.”
Heat Central: Brian Windhorst says Pat Riley knows how to bring players back after sour exits when discussing LeBron returning to Miami: “Pat Riley over the decades has been able to have 2nd acts with all these great players. Alonzo Mourning left under a dark cloud and came back… Shaq after leaving with animist ended up returning to the franchise and got his number retired. Dwyane Wade obviously left in FA in a disagreement, came back now there’s a statue outside. Pat Riley knows how to bring guys back. While there was disappointment when he left in 2014, there’s never been the animist that existed in other places LeBron left. Miami has a pathway. Especially with LeBron saying he’s looking at multiple years. Multiple years have been the formula for him. He’s won a chip in the 2nd year everywhere he’s went. I think Miami would be at their best a year from now and LeBron can be apart of that.”
Heat Central: Brian Windhorst on Pat Riley recruiting LeBron James: “The fact he is taking this opportunity while welcoming Giannis to appeal to LeBron is a indication of how badly the Heat want him…. The Heat make a compelling case. If LeBron wants to play the type of basketball that is more comfortable to him, where he has the ball, the Heat are the team that is the fit for that… if they want to play how he’s played for 23 years Miami makes sense plus Giannis and Bam provide the defensive cover. If he’s going to play multiple years It’d give the Heat to build this roster up. That’s a factor as well.”