Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo says he's really going to miss guard Josh Richardson and assistant coach Juwan Howard next season.
The Heat traded Richardson to the Philadelphia 76ers in the Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade deal. Howard, meanwhile, left Miami to become the head coach of the University of Michigan men's basketball team.
“It’s going to be weird just because J-Rich is like the big brother you can joke with at any moment at any time. That’s my brother,” Adebayo told Shandel Richardson of The Athletic. “It’s a business at the end of the day. Business can’t take away from my brotherhood. We still talk on the phone and FaceTime with each other.
“But with 17 (the Heat’s nickname for Howard), it was different just because he was more than just a developer/assistant coach. He was really like my true big brother. He was honest with me 100 percent of the time. He told me what I needed to hear, not what I wanted to hear. He chewed me out. He fussed me out when I needed to be fussed out. Coach 17 is kind of like one of those calm coaches. It’s not like a yell. It’s kind of like he’ll walk up to you, put a piece of paper over his mouth or towel or something and that’s it. It looks like a regular conversation but it’s all just tough love.”
The Heat replaced Juwan Howard with former NBA big man Malik Allen, who will take over coaching the big men in Miami.
To acquire a player of Jimmy Butler's caliber, the Heat had to part ways with Josh Richardson. Bam Adebayo is only 22, but he understands the business side of the NBA very well already.
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