"Worry for what?" - Bam Adebayo gets brutally honest about remaining unfazed during scoring slump
This season, Bam Adebayo is averaging just 17.5 points per game, his lowest since the 2019-20 season, his third in the league. Early on in the year, Adebayo struggled to find his rhythm offensively, leading members of the NBA community to wonder when he would return to form.
This week, Adebayo capped off what has been an impressive six weeks with a season-high 34 points in Wednesday's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite the loss, the scoring outburst made it clear that Adebayo isn't just back, he's taking his offensive game to the next level.
While speaking with the Miami Herald this week, Adebayo, now dubbed 'The Onomotopea' by fans online, spoke about his offensive slump earlier in the year, opening up on how he was able to remain unfazed:
“I feel like we all go through that stretch. It’s a part of basketball. If you ask anybody have they ever had a tough day at their job, they’re going to be like, ‘Yeah.’ That one month was very tough for me. I kept the same approach, didn’t let it get to me.
"Worry for what? We are talking about six years, an (expletive) six years body of work, from the time I started playing basketball until that point. I’m going to let a month span of the basketball not going in affect me?"
While he's averaging just 17.5 points per game, over the past 19 games, Adebayo is averaging 21.3 ppg, a welcome sign for Miami fans with the postseason looming in the distance.
"Bam has been a monster for us" - Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra praises Bam Adebayo amid recent surge in play
After struggling offensively early in the year, Bam Adebayo's recent surge has been fueled, in part, by Erik Spoelstra's rotations. Instead of playing Adebayo exclusively at the center position, Spoelstra has, at times, played Kel'el Ware at the center position, allowing Adebayo to play the four.
The move unlocked some new looks for Adebayo, who told Miami Herald that many of the power forwards in the NBA don't do the same things centers do. Given his experience as a starting center, however, he has a unique advantage when matching up with other power forwards.
In the aforementioned article by Miami Herald, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra praised his offensive play:
“Bam has been a monster for us. He’s doing it on both ends. He’s scoring, facilitating, handling, organizing our offense and (scoring at) the end of offense.”
With the team looking to close out the year strong, Spoelstra will lean on Adebayo's play to string together wins in hopes of closing the gap on the Detroit Pistons.
Should they wind up in the play-in tournament, Bam Adebayo's recent offensive strides could make all the difference.