Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo was a huge reason Team USA got the win over South Sudan Wednesday, 103-86, dialing in a great performance. However, one could think that the outing from Adebayo was in part proving wrong Brian Windhorst of ESPN who predicted before the contest that the big-man could be benched due to the roster being stacked with talent.
Windhorst would talk to Kevin Negandhi on the network as the host asked the basketball insider what led to the success of Team USA over South Sudan. With no hesitation he mentioned Adebayo’s performance and even said that the Heat star “was all over” him after the game in proving his prediction wrong.
“Bam Adebayo was all over me after the game because I speculated that he might be the player that would see his minutes reduced to get Tatum back into the game,” Windhorst said. “Probably more teams after them cannot compete with that second unit, that is where the US is winning these games and that is their plan to get to that fifth consecutive gold medal.”
It was not just that Adebayo contributed to the game, he was Team USA’s leading scorer as he finished with 18 points, making eight of his 10 attempts from the field and even hitting two shots from deep. He would also collect seven rebounds to go along with two blocks and an assist Wednesday.
Brian Windhorst's original prediction involved Bam Adebayo benched
Windhorst would initially talk about Adebayo possibly being benched as Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum sat the whole game against Serbia in the opener. The ESPN analyst would say that he would not be the first NBA star to be benched on Team USA since the group is filled to the brim with talent where because of matchups, Tatum will play leading to the idea of Adebayo sitting against South Sudan.
“There are going to be other all-star players that are going to get benched. I'll tell you that,” Windhorst said on “The Pat McAfee Show” Tuesday. “I get that if you are a Tatum fan you are pissed off, but I understand why they did this way. When they play the South Sudanese on Wednesday, they have a bunch of athletic wing players. They are going to be switching all those screens because they gotta play the perimeter.”
“Tatum will be out there. He's got to play the perimeter,” Windhorst continued. “A guy like Bam Adebayo might be benched.”
Fast forward to after the game where he logged in more than 20 minutes of action that led to the aforementioned exceptional performance. Adebayo would take to social media on his X, formerly Twitter, page where he posted a reaction to Windhorst’s comments through a GIF.
Adebayo speaks on what led to the successful outing for Team USA
Talking about Team USA’s dominant performance, Adebayo would be interviewed by NBC after the game to give his post-game reactions. Despite the team-leading showcase, he would credit his teammates saying that they fed him the ball and even though he mentioned before that he will not be a volume shooter in the Olympics, if he gets the ball then he is going to let it rip.
“Crashing the glass hard, getting open shots, my teammates just making it easy for me,” Adebayo said after to NBC during a post-game interview on his huge outing. “Just being able to make shots for them. Like I said, I’m not here to get 20 shots up. But when I’m open, shoot it.”
Adebayo has talked time and time again about his role on Team USA filled with such players as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, and many more. He would say that he is not on the team to score as many points as possible, but there could be occasions like Wednesday where much more is needed from him besides his elite defense.
More lineup changes probably coming, Adebayo still a factor
Still, it will take some time for Team USA head coach Steve Kerr to figure out a clear starting lineup as if there was one aspect that Windhorst got right, it was the extended involvement of Tatum who along with Davis was in the starting lineup. Embiid and Jrue Holiday were moved to the bench as there is no doubt that the lineups will be fluid moving forward, but one thing is for certain, Adebayo has to remain a factor in future contests.
“For us, man, it’s just going out there and playing to the best of our abilities,” Adebayo said to NBC. “We got some of the greatest talents in the world. So just for us to go out there and compete and execute.”
Team USA will next face Puerto Rico on Saturday, August 3rd which is the final game of the group phase which they are 2-0 and already have a spot in the knockout round in the quarterfinals next Monday. The opponent has not yet been decided to face USA as of yet.
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