As the hero of the night in Game 3, Bam Adebayo was the subject of many conversations after the final buzzer.
As both fans and critics began chiming in online, head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke loudly to defend his star center.
“He did his version of what Jimmy does in terms of what is necessary for the game…way more assertive. When Jimmy was out in the second half he just stabilized us. It got gnarly out there and we got the ball to Bam and get something coherent.”
As great as Jimmy Butler has been over the past few weeks, Bam Adebayo is huge to meeting their ambitions as a team. As a star two-way player with size and mobility, he’s a rare type of hopper that’s humble but confident in his abilities.
“Disrespectful,” Bam said on his DPOY snub. “I feel like I can do anything that two out of the three can do, besides, I mean, I can’t teach height, but they all three play on TV more than me, so I would expect that. They get more TV games and they get more exposure, people like to talk about them more. Don’t nobody want to talk about us. So, it’s whatever at that point.”
With averages of 19.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game on 55.7% shooting, Adebayo has been playing like a star all season long. After some disappointment about his play early on in the series, he has stepped up to deliver a huge win in the playoffs.
After Game 3, we know now that Bam is capable of going off at any moment and that Jimmy Butler isn’t the only star on the team. But if the duo can carry their team to a title this year, it will undoubtedly silence all the douters.
