Bam Adebayo, the number two Miami Heat guy, is considering his future among an NBA restart. On the horizon, Bam and a few star pups are seeking protection.
With the Miami Heat and NBA looking to start playing live and actual games again, there have been a few nuggets of merit that deserve discussion to come up along the way. While one of those nuggets is the thought that perhaps the league shouldn’t be coming back, the other is that if they do, it should come with extra protection for the players.
Kyrie Irving is reportedly at the head of a group of players that think the NBA shouldn’t be thinking about a restart. Although his message is more than relevant, if the overwhelming majority of the other players want to play, then that’s the right answer.
Mainly though I believe and with a bigger influence than any other singular NBA player, former Miami Heat champion LeBron James has indicated that he wants to play and when The King speaks, we all listen. Besides, if Kyrie Irving were playing and able to realistically compete for the title himself, I can almost assure you that he wouldn’t have taken this stance.
While that speedbump is a fascinating question, in terms of obstacles ahead of a potential NBA restart, our very own Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat seems to be at the forefront of another. According to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks, Adebayo, De’Aaron Fox, Kyle Kuzma, Jayson Tatum, and Donovan Mitchell, are leading a charge to receive extra insurance protection assistance from the league amid a restart.
The Miami Heat could risk it all if Bam Adebayo isn’t comfortable playing. Bam though, wants help ensuring that he doesn’t have to risk it all to play.
With the threat of a career-ending injury or contraction of the virus at an all-time high level after being on such an abnormal layoff from play, the players are seeking to ensure they don’t risk losing out on any potential money they are due to earn on future contracts.
They are in talks with the NBPA to mediate for them of sorts to the league on the issue. Here is a quote from the piece that really brings it all home.
"For players on the brink of maximum contract extensions worth north of $100 million, insurance policies that run the length of the season’s truncated finish — July 1 to Oct. 13 — could cost in the neighborhood of $500,000 to protect against the financial loss of a career-ending injury, sources said. Even with policies, it can still be difficult to prove to insurance companies that future earnings were impacted by an injury — unless it is career-ending."
With the Miami Heat near the top of the Eastern Conference and in the top third of the overall rankings, it’s about as wide open for them as it is any other team. This is especially when you consider the fact of the layoff for coronavirus.
With their style of effort and hard work over everything, they could go on a special run, one not fueled by the skilled nuance that comes with the repetition that they normally have in the NBA season.
Let’s hope that Bam works his situation out and returns to the Miami Heat home base ready to get going. Because if there is any discrepancy with Bam’s availability it’s as simple as this, no Bam, no shot.