As Bam Adebayo heads into his eighth season in the NBA, he’s coming off a busy offseason in which he won a gold medal for Team USA at the Paris Olympics, his second gold, making him an “Olympic” veteran.
Some may have missed him, though, because the major story of this Olympic team was the Big Three Lebron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. With Curry providing highlight after highlight in the gold medal game, Adebayo became something of an afterthought.
“I always make the joke that Steph was my rook in the Olympics,” Adebayo of the multiple-time NBA champion Curry, a star for the Golden State Warriors, who was making his Olympic debut.
There was a Heat-related story to take out of the Olympics, though, and that was Adebayo playing many of his minutes at the power forward position. Usually played strictly as a center for the Heat, his Olympic film now makes it possible for Miami to weigh playing him as a power forward in the NBA. And his Heat coach, Erik Spoelstra, had a front-row seat to Adebayo’s Olympic exploits as well, as he was an assistant coach for Team USA.
Adebayo — during Miami’s Media Day availability on Monday, the official start to training camps around the NBA — commented on his relationship with Spoelstra and how it was impacted with them being together in Paris.
“First time that I wasn’t in a Heat uniform, we won something together,” he said. “So, having that moment is really special.”
Adebayo this season will be the Heat’s captain for the second year. With experience and honors, both in the NBA and internationally, Adebayo is seen as a bona fide leader by Spoelstra and Miami’s former captain Udonis Haslem, as well.
One of his roles in holding that title? Introducing the new players to the Heat’s culture.
“You’ve got new guys coming in,” he said, “and you’ve got to explain to them what we’re about and how we move.”
SPOELSTRA BEGINS TO GAUGE ROSTER’S LONG-TERM PROSPECTS
The Heat’s coach has been another topic of conversation this offseason, not only joining Team USA’s staff, but doing so while finding solutions to the previous NBA season, and figuring out this roster as they can finally all play together in Miami.
Adding to the conversation with Adebayo, Spoelstra also had a few words to say about the Olympics and his relationship with the star center.
“The summer was a really fun experience for this old veteran coach,” he said. “I really treasured that opportunity to be in a team environment with [Adebayo] in a different role.”
As for what Opening Night’s roster might look like, Spoelstra noted health as an issue for last year’s early elimination outcome, but gave his players praise for being training-camp ready this month.
“Look, you have to be about it, and our guys are about it,” he said in response to how other Eastern Conference teams improved this offseason and how Miami will combat that.
As for the health issues, Miami was top five in Wins-Above Replacement missed and minutes missed last season, all due to injury. That rundown include Adebayo missing 11 games, Jimmy Butler missing 22 and the postseason, and Terry Rozier missing the end of the regular season as well as the playoffs.
The Heat organization — with depth pieces like Duncan Robinson, who averaged 12.9 points last season — firmly believes it can compete with anyone when healthy, and that mantra has been repeated since the end of last season by team president Pat Riley and Spoelstra.
WILL A BIGGER HERRO BE A BETTER HERRO THIS SEASON?
A player relied on heavily during last postseason — with many stars on the mend — was Tyler Herro. Forced to be a driving force of the offense, he provided great playmaking in the one win they had during the playoffs.
His involvement in this team has been questioned every offseason due to trade rumors. But this summer, it felt like the Heat were buying into him more than selling him to other teams. His name popped up less and less in the rumor mill.
“He and I were in constant contact when I was overseas,” Spoelstra said. “He learned that firsthand in that series [loss to the Boston Celtics]. You have to do things on both ends of the court, guard the other team’s best wing player, and also have the offensive responsibility to make the right plays every single time for your team.”
Herro has had consistent improvement over the course of his career, adding to his scoring totals in four of five seasons, and adding to his assist totals in every season.
The next step for him is to utilize his 6-foot-5 frame and bulk up on defense.
“I ended the season [at] 189 [pounds],” Herro said Monday, “and I weighed in at 201 this morning. This is the heaviest I’ve come into camp in my career.”
The Heat open the preseason on the road on Oct. 8 against the Charlotte Hornets.
