Heat's Erik Spoelstra recounts Bam Adebayo's leadership in win over Suns

12/08/2024 12:29 AM

MIAMI – The Miami Heat beat the Phoenix Suns Saturday night, 121-111, to make it two straight for the team, as it was the start of this weekend’s back-to-back. It has been a productive stretch for Heat star Bam Adebayo after building upon his efficient outing against the Los Angeles Lakers last Wednesday, but he showed his leadership as praised by head coach Erik Spoelstra.

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra shares his “love” for Bam Adebayo’s leadership

Adebayo would have another outing where he almost obtained a triple-double as he scored a team-high 25 points with 12 rebounds and eight assists. The team would make their mark in the third quarter on both sides of the ball, where it was Adebayo’s leadership that stood out for Spoelstra as he revealed a moment where the center called out the coach.

“But Bam has been playing winning basketball and whatever how many games this is, five, six games where he’s basically had close to a triple-double every single game,” Spoelstra said. “Again, it’s a shame that everybody will only notice if he’s scoring. We don’t want him thinking like that. It’ll all come together as long as we’re winning, but he can impact in so many different ways. And you know, his leadership in that third quarter is what I saw.”

“Every side out of bounds that they were running, he was the one organizing everybody,” Spoelstra continued. “I tried to get our team organized into a zone, I messed that up, I called it too late, and he’s yelling at me. I love it, you know, I want him taking control of the defense. He is our voice, and every coverage he was communicating, every huddle, he was making sure everybody understood what we were doing and what adjustments we were making. When he’s like that, you know, he’s a special kind of leader.”

Erik Spoelstra on Bam Adebayo's big night in the win over the Suns. #HeatNation

"Bam has been playing winning basketball…it's a shame that everybody will only notice if he's scoring, we don't want him thinking like that…" pic.twitter.com/KLUbEtGDu0

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) December 8, 2024

Heat’s Bam Adebayo explains Erik Spoelstra’s “glitch”

The Heat’s captain in Adebayo would be part of the rejuvenation of the team on both sides of the ball in the third quarter as after trailing by five points at halftime, they started on a 25-8 run as they led by as much as 13. Adebayo would bring immense momentum in the period, highlighted by having back-to-back dunks, which made the Kaseya Center rocking.

Back-to-back BAM SLAMS pic.twitter.com/rE56gGffRi

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 8, 2024

In that aforementioned third frame would be the moment where, during a possession on defense, Spoelstra would call a zone play late, which led to Adebayo airing out his thoughts. When asked after the game, he would say that it “pissed me off” and said it was a “glitch” from Spoelstra.

“In that situation, Spo always gets on us for glitching, and that was one of his glitches,” Adebayo said. “They’re about to take the ball out, and he yells ‘two,’ you know, ‘get in the zone.’ I’m like, ‘You can’t do that in the middle of the play,’ like you just, it’s just just doesn’t help us. And I got the foul for it. So it was one of those things where next time, I barked at him and told him to stop doing it. He learned from that, he might do it next game, he might not.”

Bam Adebayo on Erik Spoelstra calling a zone late in a play, said humorously that it "pissed me off," but would call it a "glitch" from Spo. #HeatNationpic.twitter.com/j5UVzE29nn

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) December 8, 2024

There is no doubt that Adebayo and Spoelstra have a relationship where both keep each other accountable, as that type of mentality leads to an impressive win like Saturday night against the Suns.

At any rate, Adebayo will look to keep stacking efficient performances amidst a cold start to the season as the team is 11-10 where they have little time to prepare as the Heat face the Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday night on the second game of the back-to-back.

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