As Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo gets motivated for the upcoming season, he will also head into his second year as captain of the team after the retirement of Udonis Haslem. With the Heat coming into a much more loaded Eastern Conference, Adebayo will need to lead the team more than ever, but he’s candid in how hard of a job it truly can be.
Adebayo commented before last season on being captain where he gave a blunt answer on how difficult it can be and doubled down Monday during the team’s media day. The Heat star would tell ClutchPoints that his perspective on being captain has not changed and it was Haslem’s idea.
“No it hasn’t,” Adebayo said. “It doesn’t get any easier. You know, you got new guys coming in, and you have to explain to them what we’re about, how we’re about, how we move, and just really, it’s not about yourself. You know, every year I come back, and more and more, you start to realize that you’re doing this for something bigger than yourself. Like I said, I didn’t choose to be captain. It was kinda…UD (Udonis Haslem) forced me in this role. But, you know, you understand that when you get into that role and get into that high seat, it’s not about you at the end of the day.”
Whether he likes it or not, Adebayo is trusted on to be the leader of the Heat from the coaching staff and players alike as he’s looked on to be one of, if not the foundation of the team. Especially how he’s coming off an offseason where the Heat center received a sizable contract extension and an Olympic gold medal from this past summer in Paris, France.
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra speaks on time with Bam Adebayo during Olympics
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about Adebayo at length Monday about being the leader of the team, but also about their time with Team USA since he was an assistant coach. He would express how fulfilling of a time it was to see Adebayo further gain the respect of legends of the sport like LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
“He just has to continue to lead us. He’ll grow,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll continue to add more on his plate. You know, the summer was a really fun experience for this old veteran coach, I really treasured that opportunity to be in a team environment with him in a different role. Our relationship has really grown over these years. To be able to step back and be an assistant coach over there, I thought was one of my most memorable moments in this profession, we were able to spend a lot of time in between and have different kind of discussions and different kind of relationship.”
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on “full circle” relationship with Bam Adebayo
Spoelstra would also speak on how the relationship during the Olympics with Adebayo reminded him of his time with Heat legend Dwyane Wade.
“It reminded me, really, it was kind of full circle,” Spoelstra continued. “You know, I was assistant coach and worked with Dwayne. It brought me back a lot of those kind of memories. We didn’t have any deep support staff with USA Basketball so when you’re an assistant coach, you had to do all the player development, you had to do all the rebounding, shagging balls, all that stuff. And so I was Bam’s workout coach. That was fun. And then when we were done working out, we’d sit in the gym and just just shoot the s, you know, and not even talk about hoops, not talk about the team, just really treasuring the experience that we were having being part of that team.”
Spoelstra would go on to mention how Adebayo still has a lot to achieve despite having an impressive resume, like being “recognized” for his defensive ability. At any rate, the Heat are in the midst of training camp in the Bahamas in the lead up to the opener on Oct. 23 against the Orlando Magic.
