Bam Adebayo has become one of the most formidable bigs in basketball in his third NBA season, and he's a strong contender for the league's Most Improved Player Award. In his first season as a full-time starter, Bam became an All-Star and is putting up 16.1 points (56.5 FG%), 10.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game while generally wreaking havoc on both ends for the 41-23 Miami Heat.
Adebayo has also proven to be one of the most (relatively) effective defenders on Giannis Antetokounmpo, most recently holding The Greek Freak to 13 points on 6-of-18 shooting in a Heat win on Mar. 2. A potentially hard-fought second-round matchup between the two All-Star bigs looms. Afterwards, though, Adebayo expects him and Giannis to link up during the offseason after not doing so last summer.
According to The Athletic, Giannis invited the Heat youngster to work out last summer (training with folks on rival teams is not something Giannis is known for), but busy schedules prevented the two from connecting, despite sharing the same agent. Bam acknowledged the respect he felt from Giannis after that invite:
“It just shows the respect level we have for one another. That’s a big thing about this league. When you get respect from somebody, you can work out with them. Nothing is wrong with it, not going to blow it out of proportion. I’m pretty sure in the near future we will work out together. I’ll learn some tips from him, he’ll learn some tips from me. That’s how this NBA goes.”
However, don't expect Bam to use the face time to recruit Giannis on behalf of Heat president Pat Riley. Adebayo recently played down the “same agent” angle and insisted that any conversations between him and Giannis have been largely unrelated to hoops.
Follow Us
Subscribe