The Miami Heat franchise is shrouded in aura, and it all starts with Pat Riley, the franchise's president of basketball operations. Riley exudes greatness and he somehow finds a way to pull a rabbit out of his hat in his attempt to keep the Heat competitive. With Riley's cachet comes an intimidating aura, which is what Bam Adebayo felt when he met with the esteemed front-office executive in the lead-up to the 2017 NBA Draft.
Speaking on Point Game with John Wall and C.J. Toledano, the Heat star big man recounted what his first meeting with Riley was and how the nine-time champion lives and breathes his “Godfather” moniker with how he set the atmosphere in his office.
“Everybody’s talking about like ‘Godfather’ Pat Riley. So first thing I’m thinking about is like damn like what’s finna happen. I walk in my pre-draft, I’m finna talk to him. It’s the Godfather s**t, the one lamp, and all the other lights are off. This man probably got like 8 windows in his office, all the blinds are closed. Like one lamp, and we’re going to sit here and have a conversation like this. You walk in like, damn he really is on this s**t,” Adebayo said.
“I was nervous.”
Despite his nervousness, the conversation clearly went favorably in Bam Adebayo's favor, as the Heat would draft him with the 14th overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft not too long after. But had the conversation gone sideways, Adebayo would have still endeared himself to Pat Riley thanks to his defensive versatility and embodiment of Heat culture on the hardwood.
“It wasn’t because I was the most skilled, it was more so I had that dawg in me,” Adebayo added. “During my pre-draft work out, they were trying to see how versatile I am. So like can you guard 1-5. So my pre-draft workout it was a big, me, a point guard, and a shooting guard, so we’ll play 2 on 2 and then they'll just drop the ball and be like, alright 6 seconds on the clock, Bam, guard him.”
It took a while for Bam Adebayo to emerge as the Heat's starting center, as he would primarily come off the bench in the first two seasons of his career. But since the 2019-20 season, Adebayo's body of work speaks for itself, as the Heat would not have reached the NBA Finals in 2020 and 2023 and made another deep run if it wasn't for his rigidity as the spine of his team's defense.
Pat Riley wants Bam Adebayo to take the next step for the Heat
Bam Adebayo has been a steady force for the Heat over the past five seasons; not only is he averaging 18.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists a night since the 2019-20 season, he also does plenty of things for his team that don't show up on the box score. His defensive versatility allows the Heat to deploy different kinds of coverages, as he is strong enough to deal with post-up brutes as well as quick enough to handle himself on the perimeter against rapid guards.
Adebayo has finished in the top five of the Defensive Player of the Year voting in each of the past five seasons, and he has made an All-Defensive Team has well in every season since emerging as the Heat's full-time starting center. In fact, this season, he made the All-Defensive First Team for the first time in his career.
The 26-year old has been consistent for the Heat, and it's hard to ask him to do much more. But Pat Riley sees something more in Adebayo and hopes that he could further expand his game the same way Magic Johnson did in 1986 when he decided to improve his three-point shot to become a much more dangerous player.
“Everybody knows in the league what his game is. They all know what he does for us, how important he is for us in a lot of areas and so he has to expand also his game,” Riley told Zachary Weinberger, Heat beat reporter for ClutchPoints. “Bam has to look at his game and sit with coach and how can he get better and expand his game. But he's at a point right now where you know he's he's an All-NBA player and we're happy to have him.”
Perhaps Bam Adebayo could follow Magic Johnson's footsteps in that he becomes a much more willing three-point shooter starting next season. This past year, Adebayo made 15 of his 42 attempts from beyond the arc, which was good for a 35.7 three-point percentage. If Adebayo can make the opposition respect his three-point shot, it might make the Heat offense that much more potent.
