Bam Adebayo’s goals for upcoming season: Win a championship and ‘keep changing basketball’
Life moves fast. Just ask Bam Adebayo.
Three years ago, Adebayo was working to figure out who he would become in the NBA as a Miami Heat rookie. Now, young big men are working to become the 23-year-old Adebayo.
Onyeka Okongwu, who was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the sixth overall pick last month, said before the draft: “I just want to be a player like Bam. Bam’s my size, same athleticism. It took him awhile to really be that All-Star player that he is in Year Three. I could definitely do that whole development process and be the type of player like Bam is.”
Then there is Adebayo’s rookie Heat teammate Precious Achiuwa, who was drafted by Miami with the 20th overall pick last month. Memphis’ coaching staff had Achiuwa study Adebayo’s film in his lone college season because of the similarities between the two, as Achiuwa noted recently there are “a lot of similarities, the same size, just versatile, being able to guard multiple positions, bringing a lot of energy to the game.”
Even Sacramento Kings forward Richaun Holmes, who is an established NBA player entering his sixth NBA season, said recently that he’s watching tape of Adebayo in an effort to improve his passing abilities.
“It just shows respect for my game,” Adebayo said during a Zoom call with reporters Friday, as individual workouts continued at AmericanAirlines Arena. “I feel like I’m trying to change basketball, being a center, being able to play both sides of the ball and being a passer, as well as I can. I feel like that’s a difference-maker on a team, especially at the center spot.
“For people to want to be like me and kind of take bits and pieces from my game is kind of how I looked up to Lamar Odom and Kevin Garnett. Just looking up to those guys is kind of like the same thing. And so I’m 23. It’s some respect. I’ve definitely thought about it. I definitely want to be, a long time down the road, when my career ends that whenever somebody mentions a top-five center or top-five power forward, they’ve always got to mention my name. That’s how I want to be remembered, to keep changing basketball.”
More proof that life moves fast?
Adebayo, who is entering the final year of his rookie deal with a $5.1 million salary for this upcoming season, signed the richest contract in Heat history last weekend.
“Bigger responsibility,” Adebayo said when asked if he feels the added pressure that comes with a contract of that magnitude. “I feel like I’ve come to figure that out, like I have a big responsibility on this team. So the money doesn’t change the responsibility in my head. My whole thing was, when I got in the NBA was, I got to win a championship. And that mindset didn’t change because I got an extension. That has always been my goal. We got there this year. It wasn’t good enough. Now we’ve got to keep figuring it out and keep progressing.”
Adebayo’s new deal is a five-year, $163 million contract extension that could be worth as much as $195 million.
There is no player option or team option included in Adebayo’s extension. The deal begins in the 2021-22 season and runs through the 2025-26 season, and could grow to as much as $195 million.
“That’s how I kind of felt, thinking like, an organization believes in me to where I’m worth $163 and possibly $200 mill[ion],” Adebayo elaborated. “So when you put it in that form, the responsibility really kicks in and it really hits home. Now it’s my time to figure out how we can win, how we can get to that level of comfortability where we can raise that trophy. And that’s my goal. That’s the responsibility I have and I’m going to figure it out, one way or another.”
One of Adebayo’s many tasks this season is to play a role in Achiuwa’s development. Adebayo admitted that “he reminds me of myself when I was at Kentucky, but he had way more leeway.”
“I feel like his rookie year is going to be better than mine, me being honest,” Adebayo said. “I feel like he has more skill than I did coming in my rookie year. And it’s going to be fun to work with Precious and just figure out what his mind-set is and how he wants to go about his rookie year. In my fourth year, [Udonis Haslem] is kind of pushing me into that leadership role. So just figuring out how I can make him [Achiuwa] as comfortable as possible.”
Adebayo, who is entering his fourth NBA season, averaged career highs in points (15.9), rebounds (10.2), assists (5.1), steals (1.1), blocks (1.3) and minutes (33.6) last season on his way to earning his first All-Star Game appearance and a spot on the NBA’s All-Defensive second team. He averaged 17.8 points on 56.4 percent shooting, 10.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 19 games (19 starts) during the playoffs.
Adebayo, who was drafted by the Heat with the 14th overall pick in 2017, and two-time reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo were the only two players in the league who averaged at least 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block in the regular season.
“I’m just trying to become an all-around better player,” Adebayo said of his goals for this upcoming season. “My nickname in the organization is ‘No Ceiling,’ so that gives you a point of where I want my game to be. I want to have no ceiling and be the best player that I can be and win this city a championship.”
With the Heat scheduled to hold its first group practice of the preseason on Sunday in preparation for the Dec. 22 start of the 2020-21 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Adebayo hasn’t forgotten what it felt like to finish two wins short of an NBA championship last season.
“It sucked. That’s how I can put the feeling of losing in the Finals,” he said. “It sucked. There’s no in between. There’s winning and then there’s misery. There’s no in between with that. So it’s definitely motivating. We felt like we got there and left empty handed. Two more games and we could have been champions. It’s definitely motivating seeing other people celebrate something special. And you having that same opportunity. My mindset has definitely kicked up a gear.”
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 12:42 PM.
