Edrice Femi "Bam" Adebayo (born July 18, 1997) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the Miami Heat of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,47 ...

before being selected by the Heat with the 14th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft. He was named an NBA All-Star and voted to the

NBA All-Defensive Second Team The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. The All-Defensive Team is generally composed of ten players in two ...

during the 2019–20 season. He also won a gold medal on the 2020 U.S. Olympic team in Tokyo.

Early life and high school career

Adebayo was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

to a Nigerian

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

father and an African-American mother. As a child, he was given the nickname "Bam Bam" by his mother when, while watching '' The Flintstones'' at age one, he flipped over a coffee table in a manner similar to the show's character

Bamm-Bamm Rubble Bamm-Bamm Rubble (sometimes spelled Bam-Bam Rubble) is a fictional character in the '' Flintstones'' franchise, the adopted son of Barney and Betty Rubble. He is most famous in his infant form on the animated series, but has also appeared at v ...

. Adebayo moved with his mother to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

when he was seven years old. He attended Northside High School in Pinetown, North Carolina where, as a junior, he averaged 32.2 points and 21 rebounds a game. During the summer, Adebayo joined his

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU) team, Team Loaded North Carolina, alongside fellow five-star 2016 recruit

Dennis Smith Jr. Dennis Cliff Smith Jr. (born November 25, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended North Carolina State University for one season of college basketba ...

He averaged 15.0 points and 10 rebounds per game on Adidas Uprising Circuit. Later that summer Adebayo competed at the NBPA Top 100 Camp and was named MVP at the 2015 Under Armour Elite 24 game. After his junior season at Northside he transferred to

High Point Christian Academy High Point Christian Academy (HPCA) is a private, college preparatory, Christian school located in High Point, North Carolina, United States serving students in preschool (2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds) through twelfth grade. HPCA is a member of the A ...

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph, Davidson, and Forsyth counties. High Point is North Carolina's only city tha ...

. In his season debut, Adebayo scored 22 points and 17 rebounds in an 81–39 win over New Garden Friends School. On December 29, he posted 26 points and 14 rebounds in a 91–63 victory over

De'Aaron Fox De'Aaron Martez Fox (born December 20, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats before being selected 5th ov ...

and

Cypress Lakes High School Cypress Lakes High School is a secondary school located in an unincorporated area in Harris County, Texas, near Houston and with a Katy postal address. Cypress Lakes, originally named Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District High School # ...

. As a senior, Adebayo averaged 18.9

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

, 13.0

rebounds per game 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

, 1.4 blocks per game and 1.5 assist per game, and led the Cougars to a NCISAA state championship appearance. Adebayo was named 2016 North Carolina Mr. Basketball. In January 2016, he played in the

2016 McDonald's All-American Game The 2016 McDonald's All-American Boys Game was an All-star basketball game played on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, home of the Chicago Bulls. The game's rosters features the best and most highly recruited h ...

and Jordan Brand Classic.

Recruiting

Adebayo was rated a five-star recruit and considered one of the best high school prospects of the 2016 class. He was ranked the No. 5 overall recruit and No. 2 power forward in the 2016 high school class. On November 17, 2015, Adebayo committed to the University of Kentucky. He joined fellow freshmen Malik Monk,

, and

Wenyen Gabriel Wenyen Gabriel (born March 26, 1997) is a South Sudanese-American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats, after being a 5-star ...

College career

On December 7, 2016, Adebayo recorded 16 points and 7 rebounds in an 87–67 win against Valparaiso. On February 21, 2017, Adebayo scored 22 points and 15 rebounds to defeat

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

in a 72–62 Victory. As the number one seed entering the SEC tournament, Kentucky would defeat Georgia in the quarterfinals and beat Alabama in the semifinals. On March 12, 2017, Adebayo grabbed nine rebounds to help the Wildcats defeat

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

82–65 and win the SEC Championship. On March 17, in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Adebayo had 18 rebounds in a 79–70 victory against Northern Kentucky. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Adebayo recorded 10 rebounds to help Kentucky defeat

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study ...

. On March 24, Kentucky defeated

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

in the Sweet Sixteen, Adebayo had 12 rebounds in the game. On March 26, Adebayo scored 13 points and seven rebounds in a 75–73 loss in the Elite Eight against

. After the loss in the Elite Eight, he declared his entry into the 2017 NBA draft on April 5, with him signing an agent 20 days later. In 38 games for Kentucky in the 2016–17 season, Adebayo averaged 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game and was named First-team All- SEC as well to the SEC All-Freshman team.

Professional career

Miami Heat (2017–present)

On June 22, 2017, Adebayo was selected with the 14th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft by the Miami Heat. On July 1, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Heat, and joined the team for the 2017 NBA Summer League. In his rookie season, Adebayo appeared in 69 games for the Heat and averaged 6.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. On December 7, 2018, Adebayo recorded 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 115–98 win over the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

. On December 28, he scored 18 points in a 118–94 victory against the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central ...

. Adebayo played all 82 games, averaging 8.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. On December 10, 2019, Adebayo recorded his first career triple-double with a career-high 30 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in a 135–121 overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks. On December 14, he had his second career triple-double in a 122–118 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks, scoring 18 points with 11 rebounds and 10 assists. On December 16, Adebayo was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the games played from December 9 to 15, when he averaged 20.0 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.7 assists per game. On January 27, he recorded 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 113–92 win over the Orlando Magic. On January 30, Adebayo was named to his first NBA All-Star Game. On February 15, he won the

NBA All-Star Weekend Skills Challenge The NBA Skills Challenge (officially named The Taco Bell Skills Challenge), is a National Basketball Association (NBA) contest held on the Saturday before the annual All-Star Game as part of the All-Star Weekend. First held in 2003, it is a comp ...

competition. At the end of the 2019–20 season, Adebayo finished as runner-up in voting for the Most Improved Player Award. He was also named to the

and finished fifth in voting for the

Defensive Player of the Year Award Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY or DPOTY) is the name of an award given in sports for outstanding Defense (sports), defensive play by a single player over the course of a season. Many sports leagues award this type of award. League awards for D ...

. On November 28, 2020, Adebayo signed a five-year contract extension with the Heat. On February 18, 2021, Adebayo logged his first triple-double of the season with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in a 118–110 win over the Sacramento Kings. Teammate Jimmy Butler posted 13 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, making them the first pair in league history to register triple-doubles in the same game more than once. On December 7, 2021, Adebayo underwent right thumb surgery and was ruled out for at least 4-to-6 weeks. On May 21, 2022, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Adebayo recorded 31 points on 15-of-22 shooting from the field along with 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals in a 109–103 win over the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

. On May 29, in the decisive Game 7, the Heat were eliminated despite 25 points, 11 rebounds and four assists from Adebayo.

National team career

Adebayo was cut from the United States national team for the 2019 World Cup, but he was named to their 2020 Olympic team and won a gold medal. He had also been considering the Nigerian team for the Olympics.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

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, style="background:#cfecec;", 82* , , 28 , , 23.3 , , .576 , , .200 , , .735 , , 7.3 , , 2.2 , , .9 , , .8 , , 8.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 72 , , 72 , , 33.6 , , .557 , , .143 , , .691 , , 10.2 , , 5.1 , , 1.1 , , 1.3 , , 15.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 64 , , 64 , , 33.5 , , .570 , , .250 , , .799 , , 9.0 , , 5.4 , , 1.2 , , 1.0 , , 18.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 56 , , 56 , , 32.6 , , .557 , , .000 , , .753 , , 10.1 , , 3.4 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , 19.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 343 , , 239 , , 28.2 , , .558 , , .140 , , .741 , , 8.3 , , 3.5 , , 1.0 , , .9 , , 13.5

Playoffs

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2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

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, 5 , , 0 , , 15.4 , , .467 , , .000 , , .214 , , 4.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .4 , , 3.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2020 , style="text-align:left;",

, 19 , , 19 , , 36.2 , , .564 , , .000 , , .783 , , 10.3 , , 4.4 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , 17.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021 , style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 4 , , 34.0 , , .456 , , , , .769 , , 9.3 , , 4.3 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , 15.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2022 , style="text-align:left;",

, 18 , , 18 , , 34.1 , , .594 , , .000 , , .763 , , 8.0 , , 2.7 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , 14.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 46 , , 41 , , 32.9 , , .559 , , .000 , , .739 , , 8.6 , , 3.2 , , .9 , , .7 , , 14.8

College

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Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, 38 , , 38 , , 30.1 , , .599 , , , , .653 , , 8.0 , , .8 , , .7 , , 1.5 , , 13.0

References

External links

Kentucky Wildcats bio

USA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adebayo, Bam 1997 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American men's basketball players American people of Yoruba descent American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Basketball players from North Carolina Centers (basketball) Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Miami Heat draft picks Miami Heat players National Basketball Association All-Stars Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball People from Beaufort County, North Carolina Power forwards (basketball) United States men's national basketball team players