Getty San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich seems quite fond of Miami Heat star center Bam Adebayo.
Team USA will have a familiar face in the middle of the paint as Bam Adebayo makes his Olympic debut later this month. The Miami Heat star is expected to be the squad’s starting center and their “best rebounder,” according to head coach Gregg Popovich.
The five-time NBA champion was in a jovial mood when he met with reporters on Wednesday as he described Adebayo’s role. He’ll need a lot of the 6-foot-9, 255-pounder if the Americans expect to take home a fourth-straight gold medal. The delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics begin on July 23 and NBA stars gathered in Las Vegas for pre-Olympic workouts earlier this week.
“Well, he’s a center, that’s his role, you know, you already figured that out,” Popovich told reporters, via Brendan Tobin. “He does what he does. He’s active, he’s a rebounder, he runs, he knows how to play with teammates. He handled the ball in Miami a lot — on wings, on elbows, on top, PHOs, splits, you know pick-and-rolls. He’s going to be very valuable to us and obviously our best rebounder.”
Popovich’s comments shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. Adebayo is the only true center on the Team USA roster, plus he’s coming off a career season where he finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting. He averaged 18.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.4 assists per game while shooting 57% from the field.
Gregg Popovich on Bam Adebayo’s role: he’s going to be very valuable to us and obviously our best rebounder.
Kevin Love, a rumored trade target for the Heat, is another big man expected to see big minutes for Team USA. Popovich defended the controversial pick by citing the 32-year-old’s experience. Love won a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
“It gives us a player that’s been through it,” Popovich said. “And his skill set is such that he can rebound, he can step out as a [center] and shoot the three. And that really gives us another tool that we can use.”
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Erik Spoelstra Calls Olympics ‘Perfect Thing’
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is part of the three-man coaching staff for the 2021 Team USA Select Team. The 50-year-old is in Las Vegas working to push Team USA while keeping a close eye on his star center. It’s only going to help Adebayo next year, something Spoelstra was quick to credit as “perfect timing.” Adebayo tried out for the 2019 FIBA World Cup team but didn’t make the final roster.
“We have already gotten together a couple of times this offseason since the season ended and this is the perfect thing for him at this stage of his career,” Spoelstra told reporters. “I think the experience two summers ago [in 2019] of going through the training camp was an important point in his development, as a player and as a guy who was learning what he had to do to continue to get better. Now he is a much different player than he was then [in 2019] … how his game has grown, his confidence, his esteem, his leadership, his competitive will.
Erik Spoelstra on Bam Adebayo’s biggest improvement:
“Leadership…His first couple years he didn’t say a whole lot.”
“All of these things are really going to add to the chemistry and what the U.S. team brings to the table,” Spoelstra said. “I think he helps so many different players. That’s unique for a player of his position. This summer, the opportunity to compete for a gold medal, is the perfect thing for Bam. I couldn’t be happier for him to be able to go through this experience.”
Miami Heat Twitter Trolls Everyone
Meanwhile, the official Twitter account for the Miami Heat should get an award for best troll job after posting a clip of Adebayo “recruiting” in Las Vegas. They used the “eyes” emoji to caption a video showing him slap hands with several members of Team USA including Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, Jayson Tatum, Draymond Green. Miami is expected to nab a “giant whale” this offseason, with Beal being one of the possible fish swimming into South Beach.
Things seem to be going well in Vegas 💥👀