As Bam Adebayo’s MRI looms, Heat returns home hoping for good news: ‘We just got to wait and see’
.JPG "Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) reacts as he plays against the Charlotte Hornets in the second half of their NBA game at Kaseya Center on Oct. 28, 2025, in Miami.")
As Miami Heat coaches and players packed up their stuff at Ball Arena in Denver to fly back to Miami late Wednesday night following a week-long four-game trip, there was a feeling of uneasiness in the locker room.
Not because the Heat had just lost to the Denver Nuggets 122-112 to clinch a losing 1-3 trip and fall to 4-4 for the season. Instead, that uneasiness stemmed from the uncertainty surrounding the status of franchise cornerstone Bam Adebayo after he left Wednesday’s loss to the Nuggets late in the first quarter with a left foot injury and never returned.
“We don’t know right now,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before leaving Denver and returning home to the devastating fire that destroyed the Coral Gables home he owns. “It’s his left foot, so we’ll find out more [Thursday].”
Adebayo, a three-time All-Star center and the Heat’s captain, will undergo an MRI on his injured left foot on Thursday in Miami to determine the severity of the injury.
“We’ll figure it out,” Adebayo said while standing in front of his locker at Ball Arena. “Get more tests [Thursday] and then see how it goes.”
One thing is for sure, though, Adebayo’s status for the upcoming back-to-back set at Kaseya Center appears to be in serious question. The Heat returns to Miami to begin a four-game homestand with its first in-season tournament group-play game on Friday against the Charlotte Hornets (8 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun) and then a matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.
“We just got to wait and see,” Adebayo, 28, said when asked whether he’s worried the injury could keep him out for an extended stretch.
Adebayo totaled two points and one rebound in 8:12 of playing time before exiting Wednesday’s game in Denver late in the first quarter and never returning.
Adebayo hurt his left foot during a collision with Nuggets forward Cameron Johnson about four minutes into Wednesday’s game. But he stayed in the contest, wincing in pain as he ran up and down the court before being subbed out for his usual rest with 3:48 left in the first quarter and heading back to the Heat’s locker room for the rest of the night.
“A guy hit me in the back of the leg and then I felt the pain in my foot,’” Adebayo said. “So, I took it upon myself to check myself out and go see what happened. ... Obviously, you don’t want to do anything more to cause any lingering effects. So, Spo checked me out.”
Making matters worse for the Heat, if Adebayo is forced to miss extended time, is the fact that second-year big man Kel’el Ware is the only other true center on the team’s 14-man standard roster. The only other center who the Heat has signed to a contract is undrafted rookie Vlad Goldin, who is on a two-way deal.
With Goldin sent to spend time with the Heat’s G League affiliate this week, Ware was Miami’s only available center on Wednesday in Denver after Adebayo left the game. That had Spoelstra using Ware at center for most of the contest, and Spoelstra even turned to 6-foot-6 forward Keshad Johnson to fill some of the center minutes in Adebayo’s absence.
As expected, Ware and Johnson didn’t produce positive results against Nuggets three-time NBA MVP center Nikola Jokic. While Jokic finished with his fifth triple-double of the season on Wednesday, Ware posted a double-double stat line of 13 points and 13 rebounds but a team-worst plus/minus of minus 14 in 27 minutes and Johnson missed all four of his field-goal attempts while finishing with a plus/minus of minus 1 in nine minutes.
With Adebayo missing most of the game, the Heat was crushed on the offensive glass by the Nuggets. Denver closed Wednesday’s contest with a 21-5 advantage in offensive rebounds to outscore Miami 22-8 in second-chance points.
“That’s one thing we got to lock in on,” Heat guard Norman Powell said of rebounding. “We got to check that box going forward. We don’t know what the status is of Bam, but we got to be mentally ready to box out, to hit bodies and to make those second and third efforts to secure rebounds.”
Most of the responsibility of filling in for Adebayo would fall on Ware, who has had an uneven start to the season and has been publicly challenged by Spoelstra multiple times in recent months. Ware is averaging 10.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per game this season, but the Heat has been outscored by 9.5 points per 100 possessions in his minutes this season for the worst individual net rating among Miami’s rotation players.
“Staying on him,” Powell said when asked how the Heat can fast-track Ware in case he’s needed to step into a bigger role amid Adebayo’s injury uncertainty. “I told him when I first got here, I’m going to be on him all year. I’m trying to unlock the greatness in him along with everybody else here. Everybody has great belief in him, what he’s able to do, his capabilities on the offensive and defensive end. So I’m going to stay in his ear. I’m going to stay with him and stay pushing him. I’m not going to let him settle.”
In order to add frontcourt depth to the roster, the Heat could bring back Goldin from the G League or add a free agent if Adebayo is forced to miss significant time. Miami has one open spot on its 15-man roster and stands just $1.6 million below the luxury tax line.
While signing a player before mid-December for the rest of the regular season would take the Heat over the luxury tax threshold, it could sign a big man to a non-guaranteed contract that accrues salary by the day and then waive that player before it takes Miami into the luxury tax.
This is important because the Heat does not intend to cross the luxury-tax threshold this season unless it’s to add an All-Star talent. After finishing as a luxury tax team in each of the past two seasons, the Heat wants to stay out of the luxury tax this season in order to avoid the onerous repeater tax that’s triggered when a team crosses the luxury-tax threshold in four straight seasons or four times during a five-season period.
The Heat had former first-round pick Precious Achiuwa signed to a non-guaranteed contract for training camp and the preseason before waiving the big man days before the start of the regular season. Achiuwa has since signed a contract with the Sacramento Kings.
“We’ll figure that out,” Spoelstra said when asked about the possibility of recalling Goldin from the G League for depth at center. “We have time. We had enough [Wednesday]. That’s the way I view it. But we’ll be able to manage it. We’ll see what [Adebayo’s injury] is first, and then we’ll be able to manage it.”
Losing Adebayo for any amount of significant time would be a big blow for the Heat.
Before leaving Wednesday’s contest early, Adebayo entered averaging 22 points, nine rebounds, 3.2 assists and one steal per game through the Heat’s first seven games this season. He has also continued to serve as one of the NBA’s best and most versatile defenders, anchoring a Heat unit that began Wednesday with the NBA’s third-best defensive rating.
The Heat has allowed eight more points per 100 possessions when Adebayo isn’t playing compared to when he’s been on the court this season.
“It was just tough, especially with how the team is,” Powell said of Adebayo exiting Wednesday’s game early. “We only got really two true, I mean Bam is not a true center, guys that can play the five on this team. So him going down, we got to go small ball a lot.”
The Heat should be in a position to exhale, as it returns home with a 4-4 record after playing six of its first eight games of the season on the road. The Heat will play 10 of its next 13 games at home.
But instead, Heat coaches, players and executives are holding their breath until they learn the results of Adebayo’s MRI on Thursday.
The positive news for Adebayo and the Heat is that Adebayo is known as a durable player. He has played in more than 70 games in each of the last three regular seasons.
“It’s all about bouncing back,” Powell said. “The great thing about this league is we have more games to correct. I like the fight that we had, though. With guys out, guys having to step up, playing, competing, scrapping, fighting. Now we just got to put it together with everybody back. I mean, with Bam going down, we still got to step up again. But collectively that’s how it’s going to get done.”
This story was originally published November 6, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
