Bam Adebayo is one of the most versatile big men in the game. He is a capable finisher at the rim and playmaker on the offensive side, and a 5-position defender on the other end of the floor. Currently, Bam Adebayo averages 19.0 PPG, 10.1 RPG, and 3.4 APG.
Even though Bam Adebayo is obviously an All-Star level player currently, it took him some time to get there. During the 2018-19 season, he put up 8.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 2.2 APG, and was even cut from the Team USA team that participated in the 2019 World Cup by Gregg Popovich.
Recently, Bam Adebayo opened up on that situation, and claimed that he felt some “animosity” towards Gregg Popovich because he felt as though he “should have been on that team”. He added that he told Popovich that he’ll “never forget” being cut by him after the conclusion of the 2020 Olympics. (3:37)
“Definitely animosity, because I felt like I should have been on that team. But when we got to the Olympics I had to let my animosity go because he was my coach at the time.
“But when we left, I let him know, from the time being in this Olympics we cool and you my coach, I’m your player. We gonna be like you and Tim… But when we leave, just know, I’ll never forget that you cut me.
“He respected it so much, he was like “Man, I can’t be mad at that. I did what I thought was best for the team, but I got to live with that”.
“Just know, whenever we play the Spurs, and you’re coaching, to get me geared up for that game it’s always going to go back to that. You cut me.”
There is no doubt that this shows Bam Adebayo’s competitive nature, and it’s good to see that he used getting cut as motivation. He did end up being part of the 2020 Olympics and winning a gold medal with Team USA, so Gregg Popovich clearly saw his value later on.
As of now though, Bam Adebayo’s focus will be on trying to win a championship with the Miami Heat. The Miami Heat have shown that they can play well outside of the NBA bubble this year, and perhaps we’ll end up seeing them back in the NBA Finals.1`2
