When Chris Bosh joined the Miami Heat, he was already a five-time All-Star—at just 26 years of age. He'd averaged 24.0 points and 10.8 rebounds per game the year prior to the start of his Miami tenure, shooting 51.8 percent from the field along the way.
With the tall task of complementing downhill superstars in LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, however, Bosh adapted his game for the betterment of the team. Bam Adebayo should take notes.
Adebayo has found himself in an eerily similar position to the one that Bosh was in back in 2010. He's a bit older than Bosh was, but is coming off of a season in which he was featured on the offensive end of the floor and still earned a sixth career All-Defense nod to pair with his three All-Star Game selections.
Much like Bosh had to adapt to James and Wade once he joined forces with them, however, Adebayo will need to adapt his game to play with Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo, like James, is widely regarded as one of the most physically dominant downhill scorers in NBA history. He can get into the paint with power, skill, and precision, finishing at and above the rim as well as just about anyone in the Association.
In order to do so alongside an All-Star big man, however, something has to give. Adebayo, like Bosh, is the player who can cultivate the change that can create symbiosis.
Bam Adebayo must adapt to Giannis like Chris Bosh adapted to LeBron
Bosh was always a dangerous jump shooter, albeit during an era that preferred for big men to shoot long twos rather than threes. Jump shooting became a core element of his role in Miami, however, as he crashed the offensive boards less frequently and embraced the value of spacing to create driving lanes for James and Wade.
Adebayo will need to do the same for Antetokounmpo, who has been a notoriously inefficient jump shooter, but an all but unstoppable dribble penetrator.
The good news for Adebayo is that he's already displayed proficiency as a jump shooter that should lend itself to making the pairing with Antetokounmpo work. He shot 35.7 percent from beyond the arc on 2.8 attempts per game in 2024-25 despite it being his first season at more than 0.6 attempts per contest.
The bad news: Adebayo shot just 31.8 percent when he nearly doubled his output at 5.5 attempts per game in 2025-26. To create an ideal pairing with Antetokounmpo, he'll need to find a middle ground.
Adebayo will need to adapt on defense, as well. Antetokounmpo is a former Defensive Player of the Year, but Miami's lack of depth in the scoring department could cause him to carry a heavy burden on offense. In that scenario, Adebayo would need to pick up the slack—a task he must complete while learning how to complement his new superstar teammate on that end of the floor, as well.
Thankfully, Adebayo has the perfect Heat legend to study and perhaps even reach out to for advice in Hall of Fame big man Chris Bosh.
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