The Miami Heat had two All-Stars this season. The last time it happened was back in 2016, when Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh made it. This year, new acquisition Jimmy Butler was obviously in the running, but stealing the headlines was Most Improved Player of the year candidate, Bam Adebayo.
While making an appearance on NBA on TNT, Wade recalled making predictions about Adebayo’s season with the 23-year-old. Wade said, “October 8th, me and Bam had a conversation about his season. And we were predicting his stats. I said Bam was gonna average 14 points, eight rebounds, and 3.5 assists. Bam told me I was crazy, and he was going to average 16 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists.”
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Numbers never lie 😅@Bam1of1 beat @DwyaneWade‘s predictions for the season (🔊⬆️) pic.twitter.com/Y9rOF7qweR
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) August 5, 2020
As Wade later admitted Adebayo was spot on about his prediction, his co-hosts couldn’t help but laugh at him. “I don’t know how he called that,” Wade said as he laughed it off.
Upcoming star for Miami Heat?
Improvement was bound to come for Adebayo. But making the All-Star game was a sign of what a promising player the Heat have on their hands. Not only is he a strong presence on the offense, but defensively as well. Despite being undersized at 6’9″, he is able to excel on the glass, as he averaged over 10 rebounds for the season. He is not an elite shot-blocker, but his defensive ability is helped by his athleticism.
With his ball-handling and passing IQ, he can be defined as a point center. He is confident to bring the ball in from the inbound and has the ability to pick out the open man or drive into the paint with ease. We have seen big men like Giannis Antetokounmpo do euro steps, but Adebayo’s euro step against the Raptors would have made Manu Ginobili proud. Smooth and effortless.
Bam making plays like this… 😳
📹:@MiamiHEAT pic.twitter.com/Ju9R7U8oe8
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) January 3, 2020
Still 23, his trajectory is set to be moving towards the upward direction. He has also shown great leadership. Tonight he led the Heat to a win over Eastern Conference rivals, Boston Celtics, in the absence of Butler. With the postseason approaching soon, the Heat will be banking on him to deliver similar performances as they hope to make some noise in the playoffs.
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