What Popovich told Bam after Team USA cut; Spurs, Heat meet twice. Winslow returns home
Twice this season, Bam Adebayo has dominated Indiana’s Myles Turner, one of three centers kept ahead of Adebayo when USA Basketball trimmed its roster before this past summer’s FIBA World Cup.
And next week, Adebayo will have two opportunities to leave a lasting impression with the coach who decided he wasn’t needed on the Team USA roster.
Legendary San Antonio Spurs coach and USA Basketball coach Gregg Popovich had a short message for Adebayo when informing him he was being cut from the Team USA roster in August.
He said “I wasn’t ready,” Adebayo told me. “Everybody has their opinions, so I guess it was his opinion I wasn’t ready.”
Did Pop say anything else? “Nah,” Adebayo said.
Adebayo’s reaction? “Whatever. I got a big season coming up and I shifted my mindset to worrying about the season.”
Popovich and his staff instead opted to keep Turner, Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez and Denver’s Mason Plumlee.
So will Adebayo have any extra motivation when the Heat plays the Spurs on Wednesday in Miami and in San Antonio next Sunday? That, after all, would be human nature.
“It’s human nature,” Adebayo agreed. “I’m looking to go at anybody. It’s not just the Spurs and Pop. I’m trying to take the league by storm, help this team win and try to win a championship.”
Adebayo said he and Popovich have had no contact since that August conversation, beyond exchanging pleasantries before the Heat played the Spurs in preseason.
“That was pretty much it,” Adebayo said. “It was pretty much hi and bye but it wasn’t that conversational.”
Adebayo was a late addition to the roster, on Aug. 26, began training with the team on Aug. 3 and was released Aug. 10.
Popovich - who was assisted last summer by Warriors coach Steve Kerr, Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce and Villanova coach Jay Wright - has never commented on Adebayo’s release, at least to this point. Keep in mind that Team USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo also has a role in personnel decisions.
Team USA failed to win a medal in the World Cup last summer, losing to France and Serbia on consecutive days.
Meanwhile, Adebayo remains a strong candidate for the All-Star Game, a topic that again elicited discussion on TNT’s Inside the NBA this week.
“He’s going to make the All Star team,” TNT’s Charles Barkley said this past week. “You better start voting for Bam Adebayo.”
TNT’s Kenny Smith agreed: “He’s going to make the All-Star team. That [Heat] record, you know he’s averaging a double double.”
But TNT’s Shaquille O’Neal cautioned: “I understand that, but people don’t know who he is yet.”
Adebayo is averaging 15.9 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks while shooting 59.1 percent from the field.
Players guarded by Adebayo are shooting 43.5 percent against him -- fifth best, from a defensive standpoint, among starting NBA power rotation players who have played a minimum of 30 games.
And Adebayo has 60 points in the past three games, on 27 for 34 shooting.
As of Thursday, when votes totals were last released by the NBA, Adebayo ranks seventh among Eastern Conference players in frontcourt votes.
Boston’s Tacko Fall (543,352), who has played in just four games this season, is sixth. But Adebayo said he’s not bothered by that.
“It doesn’t bother me at all,” Adebayo said. “People like Tacko Fall. It’s fan voting for a reason. He’s got a lot of fans, a lot of fan base behind him.”
Fans account for 50 percent of the vote to determine the 10 starters for the Feb. 16 NBA All-Star Game, which will take place at the United Center in Chicago. All current NBA players and a media panel each account for 25 percent of the vote, with every voter completing a ballot featuring two guards and three frontcourt players.
Voting for fans, players and media will conclude Jan. 20.
After all votes are tallied, players will be ranked in each conference by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups — fan votes, player votes and media votes.
Each player’s score will be calculated by averaging his weighted rank from the fan votes, the player votes and the media votes. The two guards and three frontcourt players with the best score in each conference will be named NBA All-Star Game starters. Fan voting will serve as the tiebreaker for players in a position group with the same score.
Conference coaches will select the seven reserves from each conference. TNT will announce the starters on Jan. 23 and the reserves on Jan. 30.
WINSLOW RETURNS HOME
A day after being ruled out for Sunday’s game at the Knicks with a back injury, Justise Winslow returned to South Florida on Saturday with the Heat’s permission, a source confirmed.
Winslow is expected to see a back specialist next week. Winslow missed 15 games with a bone bruise in his lower back, returned to play Wednesday and said he felt a “little bit of discomfort.”
Erik Spoelstra said Winslow felt additional discomfort Friday morning and would not play during this two-game swing in the New York metropolitan area.
Winslow is now out indefinitely. He has played only 11 games this season in the first year of a three-year, $39 million extension. Winslow is due $13 million next season with a $13 million team option for 2021-22.
With the Heat set to play the Knicks on Sunday, here’s my Saturday piece with a look at how Tyler Herro stacks up against RJ Barrett - who was drafted 10 spots earlier last June - plus a key area that explains some of the Heat’s recent troubles and an impending Heat roster move.
Here’s my Saturday exclusive (since announced) on UM’s new offensive line coach.
This story was originally published January 11, 2020 at 3:50 PM.
