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Bam Adebayo: The rise of Miami Heat’s most classy young star

BY LAURA SCHREFFLERPHOTOGRAPHY NICK GARCIASTYLING LINA PALACIOSGROOMING CESAR FERRETTESHOT ON LOCATION AT 57 OCEAN

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Photo Credit: Nick GarciaGOING ONE-ON-ONE WITH THE MIAMI HEAT’S HOTTEST RISING STAR, BAM ADEBAYO

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Photo Credit: Nick Garcia

BAM ADEBAYO DOESN’T NEED TO CLICK HIS SIZE 16 KICKS AND SAY, “THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME” THREE times to arrive at his favorite spot in the Magic City: more often than not, he’s already there. And by “there” we mean his couch. The Miami Heat’s hottest young rising star is a bona fide homebody.

But he comes by it honestly. “Where I’m from, in the middle of the country, there were no clubs or parties. You had to make your own fun. [You were limited to] sitting in the house or going outside,” Adebayo explains. He typically chose the first option while waiting for his single mother, Marilyn Blount, to come home from an all-day shift at the Acre Station Meat Farm in Little Washington, N.C., where she earned $12,000 a year as a cashier. “My mom and I would just kind of hang out at the house, and now that’s all I want to do,” he says.

His rented Miami digs, on the 48th floor of a downtown high-rise, are a far cry from the single-wide trailer of his youth. He finally has room to breathe; his bachelor pad has all of the necessary space and then some to accommodate his towering 6’9” frame. And because his mother lives in the same building, a mere 43 floors down — and still frequently does his laundry — he really does have all his creature comforts in one place. It’s understandable that he’d be loath to leave.

For the record, the newly minted All-Star is far from a recluse. He’s 23; it’s almost his civic duty to indulge in the hedonistic delights that Miami offers. He most certainly isn’t in North Carolina anymore.

For one of the city’s most recognizable and feted residents, it’s likely that just about any and every door is wide open. But that doesn’t mean he has to step behind the curtain. Bam splashes out on a very small scale: a special steak dinner at Prime 112, or, more frequently, a “quality” waffle and mango smoothie at midtown eatery Angelina’s or a “calm situation” at Tap 42.

“[I was raised] to be laid-back,” he explains. “If I have friends in town visiting, we’ll go get dinner, but if I’m just by myself, I’m at the house, watching random TV shows. Right now I’m into this thing on Disney+, Brain Games [an Emmy-nominated show featuring games and experiments designed to mess with your mind]. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s [actually] pretty cool. I’m [also] starting to learn to play chess. I said, ‘I’m going to learn to play chess, because I want to win.’”

NBA, and, yes, an anomaly. Where most young players are flaunting their multimillion-dollar contracts at Joia Beach, KYU, Swan, Papi Steak and Komodo, dropping G’s on flashy cars, bling and expensive timepieces, Adebayo is cut from different cloth. He’s at home, playing mind games and doing crossword puzzles, quietly explaining that his first big purchase after signing with the Heat was a leased Range Rover because it was “too early” for him to commit to anything more expensive.

It would seem that he’s cautious about his newfound wealth, as if someone might snatch it away at any moment, but really, this is who he is: a kid who was raised without, but, now that he has, remains unpretentious. On his nightstand there’s a framed picture of the trailer he grew up in, engraved with the words “Never forget where you came from, and never lose sight of where you are going,” a reminder to stay that way.

But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t parted with some of the $8,900,280 he’s earned from his three-year contract with the Heat. In fact, the best money he ever spent also happens to be his proudest moment. “Growing up, it was just me and my mom. I watched her struggle for 17 years, and when I was 19, I got a chance to pay off all of her debt after two paychecks. That’s a crazy feeling,” he says a bit emotionally, adding, “You think about it in a different way. It’s kind of a thank you, but really it’s more of an ‘I love you and don’t want you to have to worry about anything else.’ It was a milestone. Some guys, when they get drafted, they only think about themselves. They go buy cars and houses. I just wanted to take care of my mom.”

But he also wanted to help others like her — and others like himself, too. In 2017, Adebayo created the BAM Foundation, with the mission of changing the lives of single mothers while also changing the chances, choices and challenges for their children; he was named a Rising Star by Champions for Philanthropy in 2019. He has also, quite significantly, been a champion of the Black Lives Matter movement, ending each game of the 2019-20 season by saying, “Black lives matter, people.”

“[Having this kind of money] means I can do stuff for other people,” he says. “Going back to [my hometown] and giving back to my people, telling the kids they have a chance even when they think they might not, that’s important to me, because I didn’t have a chance at one point in time.”

And though that is clearly no longer the case — he is now a pivotal part of the Miami Heat machine, and, to prove it, has avoided free agency by signing a five-year max extension with elevator clauses that can take the total to a whopping $195 million — fans will never find Adebayo acting different or “better than.” His mother would have his hide. “My mom never let my head get big. When I was younger and playing really well, she would always find something that would bring me back to reality,” he recalls. “There’s nothing wrong with having confidence, but cockiness is different. My mom never wanted me to be a cocky kid, even though I was one of the best players in the area. The greatest life lesson she ever taught me was to stay humble, and I just want to make her proud.”

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Photo Credit: Nick Garcia

ADEBAYO IS THE KIND OF GUY WHO DOESN’T GET WORKED UP ABOUT THE LITTLE THINGS, AND HE’S PRETTY RELAXED. BUT EVEN HE HAS THOSE TIMES WHEN HE LOSES IT. Late in September, just after the Heat were eliminated from the NBA Finals by the Los Angeles Lakers in four games to four, he had a few pretty poor nights.

“Ever since we lost, it’s been chasing me like a ghost,” he admits. “To go such a great distance only to return home empty-handed…Concerns like those make it hard for me to go asleep. I went four or five nights without getting any sleep. When you are in such close proximity to it, it is challenging to wrap your head around what is happening. No one desires to finish the season in second place. We could see [the Lakers] rejoicing from where we were in the bubble, and we wanted to be the ones doing the celebrating instead.

There is a bright side, despite the fact that the defeat was devastating. “Obviously, nobody wants to lose, but I’m competitive, and losing drives me to be the best player I can be,” Adebayo says. “Winning makes me feel good, but losing makes me want to do better.” And in every other way imaginable, it has been a phenomenal year for him. During the course of this season, he experienced an amazing event. He has always been a good player with a lot of untapped potential, and at this point he is well on his way to become one of the all-time greats.

The center/power forward, whose real name is Edrice Femi Adebayo and who was born in Newark, New Jersey, was given the moniker “Bam Bam” after the character from The Flintstones after he tipped over a coffee table when he was just one year old. He has always been a basketball prodigy. After relocating to North Carolina, where he completed his secondary education at the High Point Christian Academy, he was honored with the title of Mr. Basketball in the state of North Carolina in 2016. He also participated in the 2016 McDonald’s All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic. He was considered a five-star recruit and had his choice of options, but he decided to play college basketball for the University of Kentucky because of John Calipari’s Hall of Fame coaching record. His dominance on the floor at that institution led to him being crowned the SEC Champion for 2017 and earning a spot in the top 14 of the NBA Draft the following year.

But up until this year, it’s been a slow and steady burn until Adebayo was truly given a chance to demonstrate what he was made of. This year, he really took advantage of the opportunity. He has really turned up the heat, so to speak, and on December 10, 2019, he made history for the organization by being the youngest player ever to post a triple-double in a game against the Atlanta Hawks by scoring 30 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and dishing out 11 assists. The game was against the Atlanta Hawks. In the same game, he also became the fourth player in Heat history to record a triple-double with 30 points and 10 rebounds and assists. In the 2019-2020 NBA season, he was selected for the first time as an NBA All-Star and was voted to the NBA All-Defensive Second squad. Additionally, he was awarded the title of winner of the 2020 Taco Bell NBA Skills Challenge at NBA All Star weekend and was a finalist for a spot on the United States Olympic squad.

“I’m simple, so I don’t think [personally], my life has changed any,” he says. “But when it comes to basketball, my life has altered significantly, and the reason for this is that I was given the ability to actually be myself out on the floor. I’ve been given the opportunity to showcase all of the other useful skills that I possess. During my first few years playing, I was always playing behind someone else, but eventually I worked my way into the starting lineup. I was given the chance to be myself without having to worry about whether or not my coach, Erik Spoelstra, would kick me off the team if I made a mistake. He allowed me to continue playing despite my errors.

When the Heat won the Eastern Conference title this season, it was clear that their astute strategy had paid off and that it was a winning one. During the playoffs, Adebayo did a phenomenal job of showing what he was made of by averaging 18.5 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 4.9 assists for the team that was in the bubble. In addition, he is going to keep putting in the effort he has to in order to achieve his goal of being the finest version of himself that is possible.

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Photo Credit: Nick Garcia

“[I’m going to] keep a level head, keep it as straightforward and uncomplicated as I always have,” she said. He says, “I’m going to continue working behind the scenes, and I’m going to continue building my confidence so that I can be a bigger and better player.”

That makes sense for the higher-ups at the Heat organization as well as his teammates, who have all lauded him to the highest possible degree. While team star Jimmy Butler has claimed that “he’s the heart and soul of this thing…he’s going to be the reason we win a championship,” President Pat Riley has referred to him as the “cornerstone to our franchise.”

It has also been said that the Heat would not even consider trading for Adebayo, who appears to be quietly rattled while touting his own prowess. This has been rumored to be the case. Laughing, he continues, “It makes me feel like I’m wanted,” which is a great feeling. “Obviously, that indicates you’ve got a lot of respect from the organization, from your team, and from other teams because they want you to join them. It also means that other teams regard me as an impeccable player on both ends of the court, which is why they want me to join them. It’s all about having respect.”

Adebayo claims that he is not a dreamer but rather a realist, and that he prefers to deal in reality rather than in fantasy. It’s true that he’s going to get to live the life of his dreams, but he’s going to do it with his eyes wide open and his mind in the right place. “If you can’t put yourself in a state of mind where you’re at peace, I don’t think it’s possible to go through an 82-plus game season or playoffs,” he says. “I don’t think it’s possible to go through an 82-plus game season or playoffs.” “There are times when you need to meditate in order to quiet your mind. After turning out all of the lights in my room, I head over to YouTube, type in “thunderstorms,” and then listen to the content that comes up. It is without a doubt a really soothing experience.”

Because of the short turnaround time between the 2019-20 season, which was postponed as a result of Covid-19, and the 2020-21 season, which at the time this article was being written was scheduled to begin on December 22, he is going to need to muster all of the composure that he can muster. Soon enough, he’ll be leaving for long, arduous days of practice, and then returning home to his zen paradise at the end of the day. Back and forth, then in the other direction. And so it goes for Bam Adebayo, who has no intention of losing any more sleep over the coming weeks.

“I’m excited for the new season,” he says. “I can’t wait.” “I want to bring a championship to this city, and I’m going to do everything in my power to be better than I was this past year,” he said.

This is the kind of magic that we are willing to support.

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