Miami Heat Best of 2020-21: Bam Adebayo Calls Game On Brooklyn Nets

The Miami Heat’s 2020-21 season did not go according to plan. After an impressive NBA Finals run in the previous season, the Bubble season, expectations were, maybe, set unrealistically too high for 2020-21.

No matter how the season went, basketball will be basketball, which means that there were multiple moments that provided fans with excitement and joy. My personal favorite was from one of the Miami Heat’s All Star players.

Specifically, it was Bam Adebayo and his game-winner against the Brooklyn Nets. For many Miami Heat fans, it was a showing of the future superstar Adebayo could become, as well as the culmination of all of the hard work he puts in to get better.

Adebayo’s improvement from the midrange was one of the bright spots of this past season and seeing him knock it down in a clutch situation like that was a welcomed sight. With all of that being said, let’s break down the play.

The Miami Heat saw Bam Adebayo take a forward this season, though not far enough. That is highlighted in his game-winning shot against over the Nets.

The score is tied at 107 and Adebayo gets the ball. Receiving the ball on the wing, Bam is already at an advantage, being matched up with the smaller Jeff Green.

He has Duncan Robinson in the corner, but decides to put the ball on the deck and try to take it to the rack. This is what Miami Heat fans have been wanting to see from Bam for a while now.

Everyone knows he has the ability to be a great offensive player, but his passiveness and unselfish mentality is what gets questioned. Going back to the play, Bam drives on Green and gets one foot in the paint, before slightly stepping back and taking the short midrange shot that would end the game.

You can see by their reaction how much it means to him and his teammates that Adebayo hit the shot. Here is the play.

The reason this play is one of the best moments of the season goes beyond it being a game-winning shot. The possession shows the type of player Bam could become if he was more aggressive.

Bam is obviously an extremely talented hard worker who wants to be one of the best players in the league. His biggest problem is not his skill set or his work ethic, it’s his mentality.

This play shows Bam putting the team on his back and going to work instead of deferring to his teammates. To me, this play is one of the best of the 2020-21 season because I think it will serve as the beginning of Bam’s transformation into a superstar player in the NBA.

The next time Adebayo will be in action will be with Team USA in the Olympics. Hopefully, we see more of this Bam running alongside the rest of the players trying to bring a gold medal home.