After back-to-back losses this week, Bam Adebayo told reporters that he doesn't believe the Miami Heat are better than a Play-In Tournament team. In response, Dwyane Wade said he asked him: Are you? Because Men lie, Women lie, numbers don't."
It's an honest truth that Bam may not want to hear right now. Because at the moment, it doesn't feel or look like the Heat are better than any of the teams vying for a top 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. When they had a chance to prove that, against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Heat blew it.
But that doesn't mean they can't work their way back into a position to make a move for a top 6 spot, especially considering they're just three games back. It just gets that much harder the more they blow these crucial opportunities.
Dwyane Wade wasn't calling out Bam Adebayo
And Wade knows that, which is why he posed the question back to Bam.
Wade also knows that, as the saying goes, you are what your record says you are. Right now, the Heat are not much better than a mediocre team, if that.
This is not Wade throwing shade at the Heat or Bam; it's Wade highlighting the need for honesty. As the leader of the Heat, Bam needs to truly look in the mirror. With just 20ish games left in the season, it's put up or shut up time.
And if Bam does indeed believe that the Heat is better than a Play-In Tournament team, now is the time to prove it.
The Heat's future will be shaped by the next 20 games
If the Heat can - or are going to - prove they're better than a Play-In Tournament team, this is when it's going to begin to click. If not, and the Heat do find themselves right back in the Play-In Tournament, or worse, big changes could be coming this summer.
And, quite honestly, I'm not sure Bam would be opposed to that. In another startling quote after the Heat dropped back-to-back games against the Milwaukee Bucks and Sixers, Bam said this when talking about the Play-In Tournament, "I don’t wanna be in this (expletive) no more."
Acting out in frustration, Bam made it quite clear that he was tired of the status quo in Miami and was desperate for some change.
For better or worse, this could be it. The summer when he finally gets that in Miami. And if it does come, it would most likely come on the back of this brutal reality for the Heat that may be finally setting in.
Maybe they're not better than a Play-In Tournament team.