Bam Adebayo was filled with rage.
It was the morning of Game 3 of the 2022 Eastern Conference finals in Boston, less than 48 hours after the Heat center had scored only six points in a 25-point loss to the Celtics at home. His Game 2 performance had invited another round of his critics’ favorite question: Ever since Adebayo became a starter in ’19, the expectations for him as an offensive force have grown. When he signed a max contract extension in November ’20, it seemingly added pressure for him to produce more points.
Adebayo was not only upset with how he’d played in Game 2, he had also been gassed up by his big brother, Udonis Haslem, after the performance. As Adebayo recalls, Haslem had a conversation with him the following night about Bam envisioning the type of showing he wanted to have in Game 3. The two watched “about 10 seconds of film” before Haslem and Adebayo had a grown-man conversation about the latter’s responsibilities.
Haslem’s message to Bam was simple.
“We go as he goes,” Haslem says. “He’s the engine that drives this thing. Without him, we’re a shell of ourselves. When he’s the best version of himself on both ends of the floor, we’re the best basketball team in the world.”
Adebayo took it all in, the motivation carrying over to game day.
“I was just mad all day,” Adebayo says. “Ask anybody. From shootaround until the clock hit zero. I don’t know what it was. I don’t know if it was all the f—ing green. I just found something to be mad at. I was pissed.”
With his anger fueling him, Adebayo responded with perhaps the best game of his career: 31 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals in a Heat win.
The outside concern about Adebayo has not necessarily been whether he’s capable of the offensive heroics he showed in that Game 3. It’s whether he can do it consistently.
These are questions Adebayo is aware of.
These are questions that in part fueled what he worked on after the Heat lost to the Celtics in seven games.
These are also questions the Heat find irrelevant regarding the impact Adebayo has on their franchise.
“Each year he has gotten significantly better,” coach Erik Spoelstra says. “And I think what is really special is Bam has put himself in the conversation to be the most versatile, best all-around player in the league. So the challenge is to quiet all the opinions, expectations and noise from out there.”