Bam Adebayo ‘s numbers at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris won’t stand out as he was relegated to being a bit player on a stacked Team USA.
He averaged 6.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 16.1 minutes per game.
However, he was a plus-32 across the US’s six contests, more accurately showing his impact on the team’s run to a fifth-consecutive Gold Medal.
His best game came against South Sudan when he was the best player on the floor. He scored 18 points in 21 minutes on 8-of-10 shooting and 2-of-3 from three. He added seven rebounds, a steal and a pair of blocks.
He may have been overshadowed by Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis (along with LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry), but Adebayo showed how his versatile game can add value and slot into any group.
As he returns to the NBA to prepare for the 2024-25 season, it’s become clear that the Miami Heat need to take Jimmy Butler ‘s car keys and hand them
to Adebayo.
Adebayo showed in Paris that he’s capable of being a role player. The Heat need to let him cook like a superstar.
Bam is consistently one of the most overlooked stars in the league. He earned his first All-Star berth in the 2019-20 season, his first as a full-time starter, and finished that campaign with averages of 15.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.3 blocks. He shot 55.7 percent from the field on 11.0 attempts per game.
Over the four ensuing seasons, he’s averaged 19.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.1 stocks (steals plus blocks). He’s made two more All-Star teams, five All-Defensive teams and has finished in the top five of Defensive Player of the Year voting in five consecutive seasons.
Over that same time frame, Butler has averaged 21.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists. He’s only played more than 60 games once during those five seasons, and as he turns 35 this year, is arguably coasting on the Playoff Jimmy label he admittedly earned during the 2022 and 2023 postseasons.
Last year, however, Butler missed Miami’s opening-round series loss to the Boston Celtics while Adebayo led the Heat in minutes, scoring and rebounding. He was second in assists and shot 49.5 percent from the field despite averaging 19.4 field goal attempts per game (nearly four more than any other Miami player).
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