Even with Joel Embiid manning the paint for Team USA, Heat center Bam Adebayo is still expecting to be on the national team’s roster, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. Adebayo told reporters that he’d already received an invite from Team USA to be on the roster for next year’s Olympics.
If he remains healthy, Adebayo plans to play for Team USA in Paris after winning a gold medal with the Americans in Tokyo in 2021. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is an assistant under national team head coach Steve Kerr and is looking forward to coaching Adebayo in the event, according to Chiang.
“I think it’s awesome for Bam,” Spoelstra said. “I think it’s continuing to help establish him as one of the ultimate winners in this league. He was one of the most impactful players in USA Basketball, and we understand why. I don’t even know what his stats were in the Olympics. But in talking to everybody at Team USA, they felt like he was a must for that roster because of everything he does on both ends of the court and because he’s such a winner.”
Adebayo is entering his seventh season in the NBA and holds career averages of 14.7 points and 8.5 rebounds.
We have more from the Heat:
- The NBA implemented new rules impacting teams resting healthy players this offseason. Though Jimmy Butler is defined as a star player who is subject to these rules, he says it will have “zero” effect on how many games he plays in the regular season, Marc Berman of The Palm Beach Post writes. “I’m going to play the games that I am healthy and I’m going to go out there and help my team win,” Butler said. Butler also said he didn’t care about any postseason awards. Players must now play in a minimum of 65 games to be eligible for postseason awards, like MVP.
- After sending Josh Richardson out in the trade that brought Butler to Miami in 2019, head coach Erik Spoelstra always thought his return was inevitable, Chiang writes in a separate story. Spoelstra was right, as Richardson signed with the Heat this offseason. “It almost happened a couple times,” Richardson said. “But all the chips didn’t fall in place. But I mean, when I left, me and Spo talked about it, that it was going to happen eventually. It’s just one of those things.“
- Even though Wayne Ellington played with nine franchises during his 13-year career, Miami left a lasting impression on him, Chiang writes in another story. That’s why Ellington decided to come back to the Heat as a player development coach, replacing Anthony Carter, who left to join the Grizzlies’ staff. “When I got here, I really bought into what the culture was about, I really bought into what the coaching staff was preaching and I put the work in and I saw that change and it helped me become who I thought I could be as a player,” Ellington said.
Let’s talk about how USA lost so horrible in the Olympics this year