Bam Adebayo's leadership leads Heat through tough times: 'It reminds me of Tim Duncan'

Any semblance of a strong finish for the Miami Heat (32-41) relies on their emotional leader: Bam Adebayo.

The word “challenging” doesn’t begin to encapsulate this season for the Heat. They entered the year with a stable core before trading Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors last month. Miami’s nine losses by three or fewer points trail only the Minnesota Timberwolves (11) for the NBA lead — likewise for their 24 clutch-time losses, according to NBA.com. Miami’s 20 blown double-digit leads are behind nobody, which is a big reason why it needs one last push over the next couple of weeks to improve Play-In positioning. Even with that, though, the 10th-seeded Heat have either tied or lost the regular-season series against the Atlanta Hawks (2-2), Orlando Magic (2-2) and Chicago Bulls (0-2), who each are ahead of them in the Eastern Conference standings.

But no matter this season’s peaks and valleys, Adebayo has remained steadfast in advising his team to not “let go of the rope.” He’s good for quipping with a timely joke in the locker room. His pregame warmup routine is to not be disturbed, which sets the standard for his teammates to be prepared to do their part. Head coach Erik Spoelstra says everyone feeds off Adebayo’s leadership, voice and inspiration, but he also advises his three-time All-Star to recharge his batteries to ensure there’s enough energy for the team to rely on the next day.

If ever you have a chance to ask Adebayo about the challenges of leading, the second-year captain firmly believes tests simply come with the territory of being the face of a franchise.

“Being consistent — that’s the biggest thing,” Adebayo told The Athletic on Thursday. “Once I get sideways, then the whole ship gonna be f—ed up at that point. So, for me, it’s just trying to keep this ship balanced the best way I can. It doesn’t necessarily look a certain way on the court. A lot of the time it’s just having a spiritual, mental approach — an even-keeled approach where it’s like, you’re not up or not too high, or not too low also. For me, it’s being even-keeled.”

The Heat recently snapped a 10-game losing streak, which marked their longest skid since the 2007-08 season, when they had an 11-game slide and tied a franchise-low 15 wins. Although this season’s squad has more than doubled that total, it still faces an uphill battle for reaching the postseason.

Even though the Heat would keep their 2025 first-round pick by missing the playoffs, the internal preference is to chase a successful Play-In run even if that means sending that selection to the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder (61-12). Miami’s misfortune with close games and big leads hasn’t dissuaded Spoelstra’s goal to maximize each possession and win every game, even if his roster is significantly different from five months ago. For Adebayo, his message remains the same whether the Heat win or lose: He firmly believes they’re a hard team to beat when they play sound defense, don’t yield easy shots and knock down open looks.

It sounds simple, but the results are evident even during a down season. Including Tuesday’s win over Butler’s visiting Warriors, the Heat are 11-0 when holding opponents to under 40 percent shooting. Only the Thunder have more such wins without a loss. The Heat also have a 14-1 mark when teams score fewer than 100 points this season, good for sixth-most in the NBA. But Miami’s troubles often arise late in games, as evidenced by its league-worst minus-21.4 fourth-quarter net rating since Jan. 22, a day after Butler’s final game in a Heat uniform.

Even with such a crucial midseason change, Adebayo believes the Heat’s focus shouldn’t waver.

“The mentality stays the same,” Adebayo said.” Through the 10-streak, we were trying to figure out how to get a win. We’ve had that breakthrough. Now, it’s about how do we sustain winning? How do you not fall short of, “Dang, we did this the other game; that’s why we won.” It’s about being consistent.”

A key part of Adebayo’s consistency is adjusting his contributions on a day-by-day basis. His knack for reading teammates’ energy and needs is just as sound as his ability to analyze an opponent’s game plan during live action. Adebayo, who was among Tyler Herro’s biggest supporters as his teammate secured his first All-Star selection, has also become a mentor for rookie center Kel’el Ware. Adebayo is accessible to just about anyone on the team because, as Spoelstra explains, because he embraces the different hats a leader must wear.

Kyle Anderson, who was acquired in February’s Butler deal, has already become a staunch supporter of Adebayo’s leadership.

“It’s huge, especially when it comes from your star player, kind of the heart and soul of this team,” Kyle Anderson told The Athletic. “I think it carries a lot more weight. It reminds me of Tim Duncan. That’s how he went about things: keeping guys together and was the heart and soul of our team, the spirit of our team. We went as far as he went. They have a lot of similarities in leadership roles, as far as I’m concerned. Different styles, but they both get the job done.”

When it comes to different styles, Adebayo is readily comfortable with adjusting himself to accommodate his team needs. He routinely quips about “couch coaches” critiquing his seemingly sometimes-conservative approach to playing, but the Heat trust him so much that it may be easy to overlook the gaps he willingly fills. He’s fine sacrificing scoring if it means his teammates have an easier go with creating shots. But Adebayo also doesn’t mind picking up the scoring load on a slow night — for example, he’s averaging 20.4 points and 9.3 rebounds over his last 26 games while shooting 38.3 percent from deep.

Defensively, Adebayo never wants to take possessions off. He blitzes on pick-and-rolls, consistently guards on the perimeter, bangs with bigs in the paint, scrambles for loose balls and does his best to contest every shot, even if it results in heart-breaking buzzer-beaters like Cade Cunningham’s on March 19. Moments like that show why the Heat are in a tight bind standings-wise. Their three losses to the Pistons this season were by a combined six points.

That’s just a part of the team’s season-long struggles, but Adebayo refuses to let his team give up even as the schedule dwindles and margin for error shrinks. He’s prepared to do whatever is necessary to make the best of an admittedly frustrating season, even if his contributions aren’t always evident in the stats.

“It changes from game-to-game,” Adebayo explained. “That’s the thing people will never understand. I’m not just a scorer. I’m not just a defender. I’m not just a point guard. I’m all those things. So, sometimes, it varies depending on how the game goes. Some games, it’s more scoring. Some games, I might have 10 assists. Some games, I might have a triple-double.

“So, for me, it’s just coming with the right mindset. It’s not about the box score. It’s about impacting winning. If I get 10 points and we win, I’m just as happy if I get f—in’ 40. A win is a win. That’s the biggest thing for me.”

(Photo: Sam Navarro / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)