As the Miami Heat race towards the season’s finale in just nine games, Bam Adebayo is putting together an outrageous run. The former Kentucky Wildcat is putting together a bender of a stats operation on the court.
The collection of games over multiple months points to his growth as a pro and places Adebayo in another class of NBA player. Following Adebayo’s return from injury, he had the worst month of averages of his career since November 2019.
The 24-year-old averaged 15 points per game, just over nine boards, and under 50 percent from the field for January.
It was a slump that sparked a tear over the past two months, one that can, likely, be tied directly to a game that can only be called the Boston Massacre, a terrible defeat to the Celtics around that time.
In February, the center averaged 22 and 10, shooting 57 percent from the field, and adding nearly two blocks and steals per game. He followed it up with a 19 and 10 average in March, while shooting 60 percent from the field.
The scoring ranks him sixth amongst big men in the league over the past two months. The advanced stats show Adebayo’s player impact estimation inside the top five for big men in that span (for players who played at least 10 games).
His defensive rating ranks inside the top six over the two-month range. That’s some big-time production from the Miami Heat’s man in the middle.
Miami Heat: Bam Adebayo On A Heater Or Is It Something More?
When you go to interpret what that type of production means for the big man, there is this. It’s quite the company to be in, might it be added, as well.
All these stats put him in the same class as centers who have been in the middle of the NBA’s MVP conversation, like Joel Embiid or Nikola Jokic. It also aligns him with the big men grabbing national attention, such as Karl-Anthony Towns.
But Adebayo isn’t a flashy scorer, he doesn’t bomb away threes, and the offense does not run through him consistently.
This is all true for Bam, but also the exact case of all the other big men he can be mentioned with.
He is a gritty defender who wins battles in the paint and puts up numbers along the way with his hustle, grit, and activity. He does it all while still, currently before our own eyes, growing as a player.
Each year, his numbers improve, as he becomes more efficient and builds his basketball IQ. It is not grabbing headlines, but he is becoming one of the pieces pushing the Miami Heat to the conference’s top.
Miami Heat: Based On Other Late-Season Runs, Bam Adebayo Could Be Leaping
There is a core message here to take away. It’s something of a phenomenon, to be frank.
Getting better during the middle of the season, often, points to a different class of player. So, no, Bam, apparently, doesn’t have a ceiling at all.
Many NBA players get better year over year, adding a shot to the offensive portfolio here and tightening up play on a defensive rotation there. It is, altogether, something different and special for a player to make a jump during a season though.
That means a leap that runs over multiple months, proving past the flashes seen from some over several weeks. While it does not make Adebayo a lock to be the next Shaq or LeBron (I’m not getting over my skies in this economy), it is an encouraging signal based on which players have gotten hot to close out a season and thus, entering the playoffs.
For a healthy dose of perspective, here are a few names who torched teams in the closing stanza before gathering bodies in the postseason.
In the 2013-2014 season, LeBron James floated in the mid-twenties before setting out on a rampage, averaging over 30 points per game in two of the last three months of the year. It carried into the playoffs, where he averaged 30 points per game in the next two postseason series.
Kevin Durant sat pretty steadily at 24 points per contest in the 2017-2018 season before catching fire. He averaged nearly 30 every night in February and March, while his efficiency jumped, shooting in the mid-30s from three to over 53 percent from deep for a month.
He went on to help the Golden State Warriors obliterate everyone in the postseason. In his worst series, he averaged 27 per night against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Maybe the best example is the 2005-2006 Kobe Bryant season. The shooting guard went from incredible to nuclear for the season’s final months.
Bryant exploded for 43 points per game in January, dipping in February, but only before posting 34 points per game in March and then 41 per in April.
That’s devastating production—for the opposition, of course.
Again, this isn’t saying that Bam is the next Bryant or James, but it is encouraging to make strides like some of the greats did mid-season. It could also spell a huge postseason run right around the corner for the young big.