MIAMI – As Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo deals with nagging injuries that made him miss two games before Monday's matchup against the Denver Nuggets, he will finally make his return. With the intention of making the Heat better, the time off that Adebayo had could prove to be good for him in the long-term as head coach Erik Spoelstra speaks about the team captain's status.
Adebayo had missed the aforementioned two games with what was labeled as “lower back soreness,” as before, the big man was also in a personal slump, where in the last four contests, he averaged 11.2 points and shot under 40 percent from the field.
When it came to last Friday's game against the Atlanta Hawks and Saturday vs. the Indiana Pacers, Adebayo “wasn't ready to play,” as Spoelstra emphasized how much he needed the rest. Adebayo came into Monday's game as “probable” and was later made “available” in the evening.
“I mean, you don't know long-term what it'll mean. I just know he needed it, you know, right now,” Spoelstra said before Monday's game against the Nuggets. “He wasn't ready to play, you know, two games go for sure the way he was moving, but it allowed him to spend a lot of time with the rehab and corrective exercises, just getting realigned. I think that'll get him at a better place, for sure, than where he was, and we'll find out. You know, he's done everything he possibly can do to get ready…I know he wants to be out there.”
Erik Spoelstra on Bam Adebayo likely back tonight, saying how he needed this time out cause he was not ready to play two games ago. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/rRXcv3F693
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) December 29, 2025
Heat's Bam Adebayo looking to snap out of personal slump
While the Heat got major contributions from Nikola Jovic, Andrew Wiggins, Norman Powell, and others in Tyler Herro and Adebayo's absence, getting back the captain for the team is huge on both sides of the floor. Still, while Adebayo wants to play any game he can, this was a time when he “had to sit down.”
“It just finally got to a point where I had to sit down,” Adebayo said after Miami's win over the Pacers on Saturday. “Sit and rest. I mean, that’s really what it was. It was one of those nagging injuries. So I finally had to sit down.”
Bam Adebayo spoke to the media after missing his second straight game with lower back soreness.
Said that the injury has been nagging him “for a while.” Said it wasn’t always the back, but it “crept up to the back.” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/vaG2luwwrg
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) December 28, 2025
The rest could propel Adebayo to get back on track, as so far, he averages 18 points per game, which is the lowest since his third season in the NBA. He's also shooting 46.6 percent from the field, which would be the lowest in his career thus far, as Adebayo answered if the nagging injuries had anything to do with his recent slump.
“More so shots not falling,” Adebayo said to ClutchPoints. “I’m not going to make an excuse because I was hurt…That makes no sense. If I’m healthy enough to play, then I play. So that’s no excuse. I’ll say it was just shots not falling. It’s a long season.”
Bam Adebayo would talk about the team having success the last two, which is an obvious feeling since “nobody wants to f*****g lose.”
Would ask him in second vid if nagging injury had anything to do with slump. Didn’t want to make excuses, but goes “hand in hand.” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/kYzGAAcOn4
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) December 28, 2025
Adebayo is still adjusting to the Heat's new system on offense, which emphasizes a free-flowing, fast-paced style of play.
Adebayo returns for Miami on Monday night with the tough task of trying in any way to maintain supestar Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets. The Heat enter the contest at 17-15, looking for three straight wins to enter the New Year with major momentum, as the game after is on Jan. 1 when the team takes on the Detroit Pistons.
