Gregg Popovich cut Bam Adebayo from Team USA. Now the coach shakes his head watching him
It was only “human nature” for Bam Adebayo to be excited for the Miami Heat’s matchup with the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. The post player spent part of his summer vying for a spot on the United States national team for the Federal International Basketball Association World Cup before Gregg Popovich cut him loose in favor of Mason Plumlee, Myles Turner and Brook Lopez. Adebayo, of course, was upset and has taken it out on the entire NBA this year, evolving into a likely All-Star after starting just 28 games last season.
Wednesday is his first chance to play in an official game in front of Popovich since the Spurs coach cut him from the FIBA World Cup team, which failed to medal in China. Adebayo admitted to the Miami Herald he was excited to get his shot at Popovich and San Antonio. Popovich said he has seen Adebayo transform even since the offseason tryouts, when he told Adebayo he didn’t think the budding star was “ready.” Popovich can’t help but shake his head sometimes when he sees what he passed up on in the summer.
“From what I see, he’s a different player now than he was when we had all the tryouts. I think that in general when I said he wasn’t quite ready, I think he didn’t show what he could really do,” Popovich said ahead of the Spurs game against the Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena. “I think that was just maybe a product of the guys that he was around. He was in a different environment. He probably deferred more than he needed to, he probably was a little unsure of himself — that kind of thing. And in that sense if that same tryout was today, I think he’d look a lot differently at it, when you talk about being aggressive and doing things that you would normally do, but I just think he probably deferred and was maybe too polite, just maybe not ready for the occasion at that particular time.
“Now that you’re seeing during the season, I’ve shaken my head several times saying, That’s not the guy that we saw during the tryout. Maybe that was my fault. Maybe I should’ve done it differently so his skills could come out. That’s the best I can offer you — the truth.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 6:40 PM.
