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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.”
“There’s an excitement around this season,” Adebayo added. “Going into this season, we want to have excitement. We want to have something to look forward to. We feel like we have a chance, and we’re going to go for it.” As for those questioning whether the Heat currently has enough playmaking and three-point shooting around its new leading duo of Adebayo and Antetokounmpo, Adebayo isn’t concerned. “We’ll figure it out,” Adebayo said Sunday. “We don’t really worry about the outside noise too much. We’ve done a lot more with less in our past years before. So we’ll figure it out.”
Heat Central: Bam Adebayo names his top 5 players of all time: Kobe Bryant Steph Curry Michael Jordan Kevin Durant Tim Duncan No LeBron James 👀
Heat Central: Josh Smith says Bam Adebayo is SALTY that LeBron didn’t come to Miami and that’s why he left him off his top 5 players list: “He prolly mad Bron didn’t come down there to South Beach and mess with him. He salty man. Might be a little salty man. Salt kills snails, not players.” (Via @NightcapShow_)
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.”
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Adebayo also understood the business side of LeBron James choosing what will likely be his final NBA stop, despite hopes for a return to the franchise where he won his first two titles. “I consider LeBron like a brother,” Adebayo said. “We’ve been Olympic teammates, but even before that, we always had down-to-earth conversations. I’m happy for him. You want the best for somebody. That’s really how you go from there.”
Plenty of A-listers showed up to celebrate the happy couple, too ... including NBA stars Jaylen Brown and Bam Adebayo, along with power couple Ciara, and Russell Wilson.
As Bam Adebayo prepares for his 10th season with the Heat, he’s also embarking on his 10th year in Miami. It’s a city and a community that has become special to him. “I feel like I’m a Floridian for real,” Adebayo said Tuesday afternoon during a session with reporters at his annual back to school event in Miami. Adebayo, who grew up in North Carolina, has lived in Miami since the Heat drafted him as a 19-year-old with the 14th overall pick in 2017. Now 29 years old, Adebayo has developed roots in South Florida while also becoming a Heat cornerstone.
“Not common at all,” Adebayo said of the stability in his NBA career with the Heat. “I’m grateful to be here nine years. I’m looking to be here three more, obviously, and then on. But it’s an exciting city, man. To be a part of this for going on 10 years, and then to have the same coach. I’m blessed to have both of those things. I got an organization that believes in me. So, I’m happy to be here.”
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“There ain’t no disappointment,” Adebayo said Tuesday of LeBron James choosing to sign with the 76ers over the Heat. “To me, you should always be happy for a person and their decision. He made a decision where he feels like it’s his best situation to win. And I feel like I’m a good friend of LeBron’s.” Then Adebayo, who declined to answer questions on his altercation with former Heat teammate Tyler Herro from earlier this month, laughed and revealed a message that he sent James after his decision to join the 76ers. “Like I told him in the message, I’m going to bust his a--,” Adebayo said with a smile. “So, it’s going to be an exciting season. I’m excited for the East. We got a whole new turnaround in the East. So, it’s going to be exciting this year.”
No matter where LeBron decides to go, it would be seen as him chasing rings, since almost every team in the league already has stars. "Where does Charles and the legends want LeBron to go? Do they want him to go to the G League? Because if he went to Cleveland, is that team stacked? Is Miami with Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo is that team stacked? Jokic and Jamal Murray is that team stacked? Ant Edwards, Rudy Gobert I don’t know; he left Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves is that not? I don’t understand the premise of the complaint," Windhorst said in response.
Carmelo Anthony on Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo altercation: "We was just in a bunker for eight years... We done went to war for eight seasons... The minute that you leave, you put that out there... So that told me that was brewing and what we were building wasn't real… so if you went out there to told somebody you don't even know this information, that told me that I got to approach you the way that I feel like is the best way because if you don't stop it right away, it keeps going."
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.
