Getty Orlando Robinson #25 of the Miami Heat.
Depth is always important in the NBA. Especially for a team like the Miami Heat, who have been riddled with injuries all season. According to Spotrac, Jimmy Butler, Dewayne Dedmon, Tyler Herro, Victor Oladipo, Duncan Robinson, and Gabe Vincent have been sidelined for at least 10 games with various ailments. As a team, the Heat have had the second-most missed games due to injury with 193, only trailing the Orlando Magic who have 205 total.
Luckily for Miami, it seems that they’ve found their backup center of the future in Orlando Robinson.
In a January 19 article for the Sun Sentinel, Heat beat reporter Ira Winderman answered a fan-submitted question about Robinson being the perfect backup to Bam Adebayo.
“He is (the perfect backup) in the sense that he does not try to do too much, never forces shots, defers to the perimeter scorers, and is completely comfortable solely doing the grunt work,” Winderman wrote.
He added that Robinson never forces anything offensively unlike Dedmon, Miami’s other rotation big man.
However, Winderman did express concern about Robinson potentially having to fill in as a starter if Adebayo was to be sidelined with an injury.
“The concern with Robinson in such a role, beyond his dwindling NBA days on his two-way contract, is that he is not necessarily a replacement starter should Bam Adebayo have to miss time, particularly with his foul trouble.”
The rookie has been solid in his 18 appearances for the Heat this season, playing 15.1 minutes each game. He’s averaged 5.1 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 55.7% from the field.
“Adebayo starting and Robinson offering relief minutes has worked out quite well,” Winderman concluded.
Heat Center Bam Adebayo Snubbed in All-Star Fan Voting
January 19 also marked the final return of fan voting for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game. The results did not include Adebayo amongst the top-10 frontcourt players in the Eastern Conference.
The top-five vote-getters in the third #NBAAllStar fan voting returns:
LeBron James
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Kevin Durant
Steph Curry
Luka Dončić
The Heat center not being amongst the top vote-getters is pretty surprising. He’s playing what could be considered the best basketball of his career. Adebayo has appeared in 41 of the team’s 46 games, playing 35.1 minutes each time. The 25-year-old is averaging career-high’s in both points per game, at 21.5, and rebounds per game at 10.1 while shooting 54% from the field.
Kyle Lowry Believes Heat Teammate Bam Adebayo is an All-Star
If Heat point guard Kyle Lowry casted any votes for the All-Star Game, Adebayo was certainly on his ballot.
After making his return to the floor against the New Orleans Pelicans on January 18, Lowry shot of some high praise for his Miami teammate.
“Bam’s playing his a– off, he’ll be an All-Star this year, he should be an All-Star this year,” Lowry gushed. “His production has been unbelievable in that range of 4-13 feet, he’s been unbelievable, just not missing shots in there.”
“We came out and played extremely hard…we’ve got a talented group.”
Kyle Lowry speaks after a HEAT victory in New Orleans to move 4 games above .500 and into 6th place in the East
Lowry had missed Miami’s previous four games with left knee soreness. He scored 7 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and dished 4 assists in his return to the lineup.
Head Coach Erik Spoelstra was pumped to have Lowry back on the floor.
“He was a big contributor of setting the tone on both ends,” he explained. “Right out of the gate, you want to set the tone for the game on the road. He had that early steal on the post up, and a couple of other physical defensive possessions, and he had two early attacks before the defense was set. And that just kind of set the tone for everybody else to do something similar.”