Miami Heat: Bam Adebayo Team USA Commitment Could Drop Dominoes
By Isiah Curry
Reports surfaced on Monday that Miami Heat Star center, Bam Adebayo, has committed to Team USA for the upcoming 2021 Tokyo Olympics, which begins on July 23rd. With fellow Heat star Jimmy Butler opting out of USA participation, Adebayo joins an elite roster featuring Kevin Durant, James Harden, Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, and Draymond Green.
In the summer of 2019, Adebayo was cut from Team USA’s senior roster in favor of San Antonio Spurs guard, Derrick White and Sacramento Kings forward, Marvin Bagley. Spurs and USA head coach Gregg Popovich added that Adebayo “wasn’t ready” and that he didn’t show everything he could do to garner a spot on the roster.
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Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo will join Team USA in participation of the upcoming 2021 Tokyo Olympics. How will this impact the Heat’s future?
However, just months after he was cut from Team USA, Adebayo became an All-Star in 2020 and would eventually sign a five-year and $163 million maximum extension with Miami after a dominant 2020 postseason run. And while you could consider Poppovich’s decision as motivation, Bam still proved that he belongs in the conversation of elite big-men and has now earned his place to represent his country.
Adebayo’s commitment will be interesting for the Miami Heat organization, a team that’s been heavily rumored as a top destination for upcoming free agents and even further, a trade suitor for potentially disgruntled All-Stars. While Bam continues to guide his personal development, where he can pick the brains of the best professional basketball players in the world, the opportunity to recruit one of his future USA teammates won’t come at a greater time and especially with the Heat actively in search of acquiring a third star.
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The Heat are just weeks away from, perhaps, their most critical summer since the end of the Big 3 Era, as they gear up for many changes within the organization and while remaining active in developing their younger assets. For Adebayo, his commitment to USA only nudges forward the Miami heat’s investment into him continuing to become a cornerstone of the franchise.