It
It hasn’t been perfect since the Miami Heat suspended Jimmy Butler seven games for multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team. The Heat lost by 36 to the tanking Utah Jazz at home, blew a 17-point lead to the Sacramento Kings that resulted in a double-overtime loss and turned the ball over 16 times in Monday’s 11-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
But the team needed to jell together without their 35-year-old star, and there was no better voice than the Heat’s second-year captain Bam Adebayo, says Tyler Herro:
“We all lean on him. He has continued to carry us as a leader in the locker room and a voice,” Herro recently told NBA insider Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “He has always been that for us. The last couple of weeks he has really stepped up in that regard. And just leading on the court, on both ends, being the anchor on defense and sticking with everything he is doing offensively.”
While he’s not the vocal leader that Udonis Haslem was when he was donning red, yellow and black, Adebayo still serves as an invaluable mentor–especially to their young core of Nikola Jovic, Kel’el Ware and Jaime Jaquez Jr., among others.
Adebayo also went as far as to say the Heat still have enough to win games despite missing their six-time All-Star, who’s on track to play the fewest amount of games in his Heat tenure.
“Everybody needs somebody to look at,” he said. “They need that voice, that one voice where we get in the trenches and it gets dark. People lose direction. You need somebody to be that enforcer to understand that we can still win. We still have enough.
“We can’t let this season go to s— for the young guys. I look at ’em because young guys are trying to get a job. Guys are trying to be something in this league and it’s like you can’t let the outside noise distract that. But for me, it’s really getting everybody at the same page and understand that we can still win.”
There is more than one way to lead, just like there’s more than one way to skin a cat. We aren’t always privy to seeing what happens behind closed doors, but Adebayo’s that rock and backbone for the future of this organization.
“It goes without saying what he means to the franchise, what he means to the city,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You know he’s the next caretaker, torchbearer for our organization, and it’s because he’s about all the right things.
“It’s about winning. He’ll sacrifice, he’ll do the dirty work. I think he was arguably one of everyone’s favorite teammates this summer [in Paris] because he took on all the challenges defensively, he facilitated, got everybody involved. He played a great role; that’s why he has two gold medals, been to the Finals twice.”
The Heat are 3-3 since Butler’s suspension with the league’s fourth-best defense over that span entering Wednesday, despite being without Adebayo on Monday (back).
Butler will be eligible to return Friday, but it goes without saying that Adebayo’s indispensable voice and leadership are expected to be the glue that holds this group together throughout the rest of the season regardless of Butler’s presence.
“It’s your responsibility to help these young fellas bank equity, understand what they’re trying to achieve,” he said. “That to me, that brings you a lot of joy when you’re helping the rookies or one-, two-year players, and they look up to you. It’s crazy that they call me ‘O.G.’”
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