One of the biggest stories of the early NBA season has been the Miami Heat's struggles in the Giannis Antetokounmpo era. The Heat arguably played their best game of the season against the Dallas Mavericks, even taking a 90-84 fourth-quarter lead. Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks ultimately pulled off a comeback to win 113-109. Bam Adebayo's play has been in the spotlight.
Adebayo finished with 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in 30 minutes. He was 3 of 10 from the field and missed all 5 of his attempts from the three-point line. The game continued. It is an early season of struggle for Adebayo, who is only averaging 11.8 points per game and shooting 16.7% from three in the past 4 games. Adebayo's play drew Joe Johnson's attention on the Shannon Sharpe-led Nightcap podcast.
“I’m looking at body language and your confidence when you’re out there on the court,” Johnson said on the broadcast. “Bam has to assert himself! We can’t blame Giannis for this! He took 10 shots… I’ll tell you what I take from it. He got gun shy after he missed a few! He went 3/10, he should’ve went 3/20! He can’t leave Giannis out there. He needs another guy who’s going to be aggressive and put pressure on the defense. He has all the tools bro! He scored 83. He has to get something respectable and develop some type of consistency for this Heat team to be competitive”
Sharpe took it even further, questioning if Adebayo is really a franchise player.
“Set the 83 points aside, you taking Bam and saying ‘I’m gonna build my franchise around Bam?’ Y’all talking about him like he’s a Franchise builder. He’s not Joe! He’s a great complimentary player. Ain’t nobody taking no Bam to build a franchise around!”
After the game, Adebayo addressed the media, took accountability for his poor shooting, and responded to his critics.
“For me it's my shot not going in. I'm not going to overthink that. It's funny how the outside noise wants to make me the scapegoat but when the tables turn, when the energy shifts, just be prepared for that.”