Miami Heat rising star Bam Adebayo didn't make the Team USA FIBA World Cup roster this past summer, and it may have been a good thing.

Adebayo says losing out on a roster spot to Brook Lopez and Miles Plumlee left a “bigger chip on my shoulder,” via Marc Stein of The New York Times:

Adebayo wouldn’t go that far when I had a chance to ask him directly over the weekend, but he did acknowledge that losing out to Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez, Indiana’s Myles Turner and Denver’s Mason Plumlee left him with a “bigger chip on my shoulder.”

“Obviously no man wants to get cut, so I take it personally,” Adebayo said after posting the second of those triple-doubles in an overtime win on Saturday night in Dallas. “But it’s behind me now.”

Adebayo is playing like an All-Star this season for the Heat. He's averaging 15.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists while shooting 57.3 percent from the field and 65.6 percent from the free-throw line.

Adebayo is the second-youngest player in Heat franchise history to be named Player of the Week after Dwyane Wade. Bam averaged 20.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 8.7 assists last week as the Heat went 2-1.

After missing the playoffs last season, the Heat are well on their way to making it this season. They will ultimately go as far as Jimmy Butler and Adebayo can take them.