During the Heat’s recent 130-117 win over the Kings on Tuesday, January 20, Bam Adebayo got into a face-to-face confrontation with DeMar DeRozan following a heated exchange with Miami’s Pelle Larsson.
According to ‘Legendz,’ a lip-reader’s account on social media, Adebayo took the incident personally when DeRozan reportedly called Larsson a “flopping a** b****.” Adebayo quickly jumped to his defense while DeRozan repeatedly said, “Don’t do that,” to Larsson.
“Shut your a** up, DeMar,” Adebayo allegedly said to DeRozan while Russell Westbrook and Myron Gardner also got involved in the heated exchange between the teams.
“Hey, what are we doing? What are we doing?” said Adebayo repeatedly as he began seeking an explanation while walking towards DeRozan. The Kings’ forward said, “Don’t do that,” to Adebayo as well on multiple occasions, as he seemingly felt Adebayo was confronting him.
“That’s my guy! God damn DeMar,” Adebayo further yelled as the two sides got separated to their respective benches while the officials reviewed the incident. They assessed a technical foul on DeRozan for instigating the matter further, but that did not stop things from escalating further.
What DeMar Derozan Really Said To Bam Adebayo👀:
Derozan: “Don’t do that!”
Bam: “Shut your a** up… what are we doing?”
Later in the game, DeMar fouled Pelle Larsson again and things escalated:
DeMar: “Do something, b*tch a** n****”
Pelle: “That’s not a basketball play” pic.twitter.com/t9BnmZ3g9c
— LegendZ (@legendz_prod) January 22, 2026
Later in the game, DeRozan fouled Larsson once again, hitting him across the face, and this time, the 24-year-old Heat player did not hold back.
“What’s up? Do something. Do something,” said DeRozan as Larsson came up to his face after the foul. “Don’t f**king do that sh**,” repeated Malik Monk on the sides while Larsson confronted DeRozan.
“That’s not a basketball play,” said Larsson while DeRozan reportedly called him a “b***h a** n***a.”
DeRozan tried to downplay the situation, saying Larsson was overreacting to a simple foul. Officials reviewed the incident and upgraded the decision to a flagrant foul one for unnecessary contact.
The Heat bench rejoiced as this was moments before they secured their 23rd win for the season. They are currently the eighth seed in the East (23-21 record), staring at a spot in the play-in tournament 44 games into the season. Subsequently, they travelled to Portland to face the Trail Blazers tonight (Thursday, January 22).
Adebayo led all scorers during the Kings game with 25 points, seven rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block while scoring at a 53.3% efficiency (8-15 from the field).
Meanwhile, DeRozan ended up with 23 points, four rebounds, and five assists while shooting 6-12 from the field (50.0%) as the Kings fell to 12-33 for the season.
The Kings are now on a three-game losing streak as the 14th seed in the Western Conference. They have now ended their seven-game home stretch and will face the Cavaliers tomorrow night in Cleveland.
