MIAMI – With the Miami Heat starting the season at 0-3 ahead of Monday's contest against the Dallas Mavericks, there's no denying that many are disappointed with the start of a new era for the franchise led by Giannis Antetokounmpo. As the Heat look to adapt from the painstaking slow start to the season, one player that's been in some media pundits' crosshairs is Bam Adebayo.
While Adebayo is captain of the team, he's also getting a lot more eyes on his play, especially as he's one part of Miami's new dynamic duo with Antetokounmpo. Everyone could see that so far, there's still more work to be done for the two to get to know how to play with one another, with arguably Adebayo being the one that has the most pressure on him.
Erik Spoelstra isn't surprised by extra attention to Bam Adebayo, Heat
Currently averaging 13 points, seven rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 42.9 percent from the field and 23.1 percent from three-point range. One person to call out his play was former star Kevin Garnett, saying how he's currently performing isn't “superstar s***.”
In Miami's 115-110 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, Adebayo got into a groove as he was in the lineup to start the fourth quarter that went on a 25-4 run to cut a 21-point deficit to make it a tie game. For head coach Erik Spoelstra, he's confident that Adebayo will improve, as they expected the extra outside noise on the captain and the team as a whole.
“Yeah, like he's going to figure it out. We're going to figure it out,” Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints before Monday's game against Dallas. “I thought he had a great disposition in Charlotte, and he was a big part of that fourth quarter when he was on the court. We knew this going in that there would be a lot of eyeballs on our team, and right now, since we've had this start, it's just time to just focus on us and doing what we need to do to get a win,” Spoelstra said.
“And we need to be more consistent. That's the bottom line,” Spoelstra continued. “It can't just be a quarter; can't be two quarters. The competition will have something to say about it, but we have to impose our will longer, be more intentional offensively. Longer, do it rep after rep after rep.”
Article Continues BelowAsked Erik Spoelstra about the outside noise around Bam Adebayo as he’s still getting adjusted: #Heat
“Yeah, like he's going to figure it out. We're going to figure it out. I thought he had a great disposition in Charlotte, and he was a big part of that fourth quarter when he… pic.twitter.com/FDDApZ7Pc5
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 26, 2026
Heat's Erik Spoelstra didn't expect early breakdowns
While a slow start should have been expected for the Heat with the newcomers and the returning players getting comfortable with the additions, it's still shocking to see the team's early struggles. Arguably the most shocking aspect has been the defense, as Miami is ranked 25th in the NBA in defensive rating (124), which has included uncharacteristic breakdowns, as the offense has shown players tiptoeing around one another.
“Coming out of the preseason, that wasn't really something that's on our radar,” Spoelstra said. “So sometimes things happen like this in this league; it's very competitive. We just need to really be disciplined to what our process is, our identity. We know what it is defensively. I don't need to explain it. We know how aggressive we're supposed to be, and offensively, we know the kind of pace and tempo and ball movement we want to play with, and we just need to do it against live competition.”
Miami's hoping a new week can give the team a fresh start as Monday against the Mavericks, Wednesday visiting the Atlanta Hawks, and Friday starting NBA Cup play against the Indiana Pacers are jumping-off points for the team to start a streak.