Heat’s Bam Adebayo has a historic prediction for himself. And Dwyane Wade weighs in
When Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo was asked last summer to forecast what his third NBA season had in store for him, he predicted a stat line that included 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
Adebayo’s averages through the Heat’s first 65 games before the NBA season was suspended March 11 because of the coronavirus pandemic? 16.2 points, 10.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists.
During a Monday interview with longtime Heat play-by-play broadcaster Eric Reid, Adebayo was asked to predict his stat line for next season. Not afraid to raise expectations even higher, the 22-year-old said 20 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.
“I want to prove [coach Erik Spoelstra] wrong,” Adebayo said with a smile during the interview that was posted to the Heat’s Fox Sports Sun Twitter account on Monday night. “Spo said I wouldn’t be a 20-point scorer with the way we play.”
If Adebayo correctly predicts his numbers for a second straight season, it would be historic. Only two players in NBA history, according to Basketball Reference, have averaged at least 20 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in a season — Kevin Garnett in 2002-03 and Wilt Chamberlain in 1966-67 and 1967-68.
Many have pointed to Adebayo as the next Heat icon — a lineage that includes Alonzo Mourning, Udonis Haslem and Dwyane Wade. And, as expected, Adebayo isn’t afraid of those expectations either.
“You don’t want to be that one guy that can’t carry the load or isn’t ready to carry the load because it’s going to be a point in your career where it’s going to be your show,” Adebayo said. “So you have to put your big boy pants on and you got to go out there and produce, and I feel like I’ve done that so far this season. I feel like I really shouldered a lot of weight off of Jimmy [Butler], so Jimmy is not such the focal point. Just getting him easy buckets or just let him take a play off.
“I’ve been with UD for three years, I’ve been with D-Wade for a year and a half, and just seeing a Zo all three years, it’s a big respect factor when those three type of guys say that you’re next in line. I’m just trying to do the very best I can to fill that legacy. Try to bring a championship, that’s my goal.”
Adebayo, who made his first appearance in the NBA All-Star Game this year, was a driving force behind the Heat’s success this season. Miami entered the league shutdown with the Eastern Conference’s fourth-best record at 41-24.
“We definitely turned some heads, 100 percent turned some heads,” Adebayo said. “I feel like a lot of people didn’t believe in us. People were saying we only had one All-Star and that we couldn’t win with just one All-Star. I feel like that drove a lot of us.”
When Reid asked about the possibility of earning votes for this season’s NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, All-Defensive first team and Most Improved Player award, Adebayo said: “I want them all.”
“But the one that I would say that sticks out the most is probably first-team All-Defense,” he admitted, “just because I came into the league being a defender and an energy guy and just working on my game to be able to play on both sides of the court. Coach gives me new challenges like guarding the best player on every team even though he’s not a big. Guarding point guards, guarding slashers, guarding the superstar. That’s just the level of respect I earned from my head coach, my teammates and other players.”
WADE’S THOUGHTS
Heat legend Dwyane Wade said the coronavirus pandemic prevented him from attending his sister’s wedding and admitted he has been injured multiple times while exercising since being confined to his home.
“I had my third injury in quarantine already — noncontact injuries — I strained my calf on the treadmill trying [not to gain] 15, 20 pounds,” Wade said on an NBA TV roundtable discussion Monday night.
“Lets me know my retirement decision was right on time. Blew my calf out. Yesterday [Sunday] was the one-year anniversary of my last game in Miami. I proved myself right. I retired at the right time.”
Wade — appearing on the program with Charles Barkley, Chris Webber, Isiah Thomas and host Ernie Johnson — admitted that “when I first heard about it [coronavirus], I didn’t take it as serious as I should have, just not knowing what it would become. Once it became real, and you started to hear about lives being lost, it changed your mind-set.
“I was heading to Jamaica for my sister’s wedding and I had to turn around and come back home. I couldn’t make my sister’s wedding because we knew it was serious and had to come back and get my family prepared for this lockdown.”
Wade, who relocated to Los Angeles with wife Gabrielle Union following his retirement from the Heat last spring, said “what has been great” about being at home more is “the reconnection with our families. My family is getting an opportunity to know me in a way they’ve never been able to. And me the same way. For me, it has been cool to do the things I’ve always put to the side. I’ve wanted to paint and never found time to do it. Now I have time to do things, am painting and doing the things with my kids and family I’ve wanted to inside of our home.”
Wade said he’s hopeful games will resume this season.
“I need something to look forward to,” he said, while adding he’s concerned about potential injuries. “One thing that concerns me is are they going to try to rush the season to get to the playoffs. One thing [NBA commissioner] Adam Silver focused on when he limited back-to-backs is to limit injuries, especially star players were getting injured a lot.”
Asked about the strong possibility of games being played without fans, Wade said: “We can all play the game anywhere. There’s something about smelling the popcorn in the arena, hearing the roar of the crowd. It brings a different kind of intensity, a different kind of passion. Can you play without fans? Of course you can. It’s going to be way different.”
Because many players don’t have access to courts, “there’s going to be a lot of nasty games whenever we do come back,” Wade said.
This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 9:41 AM.
