Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Olynyk: ‘You definitely hear his voice now’
Adebayo stepping up, speaking up, growing into leadership role
It was difficult to lead when he was playing behind. So Bam Adebayo bided his time.
“I mean,” coach Erik Spoelstra said, “his first couple of years, he didn’t say a whole lot.”
And then the Miami Heat moved past Hassan Whiteside in the 2019 offseason and plugged in Adebayo as the fulcrum on both offense and defense.
“And each year,” Spoelstra said, “he’s getting a more comfortable.”
That became particularly apparent during the seven-game trip that delivered the Heat to Oklahoma City for Monday’s close of the two-week journey.
“Not only is he more confident in that role,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo as leader, “it’s absolutely required with this group that he leads. And he’s learning to do it in different ways. Sometimes, it’s demanding. Sometimes, it’s hard. Sometimes, it’s encouraging. Sometimes, it’s uplifting, elevating guys, helping them feel more confident.
“I’m enjoying this process of seeing him grow as a leader.”
Joining the Heat as the No. 14 pick out of Kentucky in 2017, Adebayo found himself in a locker room with big personalities — Whiteside, Dion Waiters, James Johnson, Justise Winslow, eventually Dwyane Wade.
Now, four years in, the 23-year-old has emerged as his own oversized locker-room presence.
“You definitely hear his voice now, a lot more this year than in the past,” center Kelly Olynyk said. “He’s grown into it.
“He’s out there, he’s doing pretty much everything that the game asks of him. And to hear his voice and to know that he’s locked in, we’re kind of just following his lead in a lot of things, whether its offensively, defensively.”
Even last season, there was a degree of deferring to Jimmy Butler, with Butler arriving as the new face of the franchise. And yet almost from the outset, Butler recognized the importance of Adebayo developing his own voice.
“And you see a lot of that leadership in his
demeanor and his aggressiveness and how he’s been preparing for the game and the season and the year,” Olynyk said of Adebayo. “You can really see him take leaps and bounds. And it’s kind of unfolding under everybody’s eyes.”
With the Heat away for two weeks, Adebayo said it afforded a unique opportunity in a unique season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“This road trip has been good for us,” he said, “because when we’re home, we really can’t see each other. We’re in the hotel now, we’re traveling together on the plane, getting to talk to one another, and really getting that cohesive brotherhood again that we had last year. It’s great for us and we just got to keep building from here.”
With Butler called upon for triple-double levels of productivity, with Udonis Haslem no more than a bench presence, it has left a leadership gap on the court that Adebayo has helped fill.
“He’s kind of out there directing this, and making sure that everybody’s moving in the right direction,” Olynyk said. “Obviously, we have UD and Jimmy, but we need him to be a leader for us, as well. When those guys aren’t there, when those guys aren’t on the court, he’s out there, doing pretty much everything that the game asks of him. And to hear his voice and to know that he’s locked in, we’re kind of just following his lead in a lot of things, whether its offensively, defensively.
“He’s everywhere. Obviously defensively, he’s such a huge piece of our defense, being able to switch on to anybody, guard one through five, help side, block shots, whatever. So defensively, he’s big and he’s holding everybody accountable, making sure they’re in the right spots. And then offensively, the ball goes through him on a lot of possessions. He’s making sure that he lets guys know where he sees his openings, where he sees plays that he can make for other people.” Stepping up and speaking up. “He’s taken a step forward with his voice,” Spoelstra said. “He’s earned that in the locker room. And like all the great players in this league, you understand that you can really move the needle with your leadership as much as you can with your play.”