Miami’s Bam Adebayo receives a new honour: he will play in the All-Star game for the first time.
Adebayo was announced on Saturday as a replacement for Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid in the Eastern Conference starting line-up for Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game. Embiid – the reigning MVP and two-time defending scoring champion – will miss the game with a knee injury.
Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers, who will lead the East squad at the All-Star game, made the selection and informed Adebayo on Saturday morning. Adebayo said the conversation was short and direct: “He came in and said, ‘Bam, you’re starting,'” he said.
“It’s going to be a great experience,” Adebayo said. “I will really cherish this moment and thank God and all the people who have supported me through all the ups and downs. We have added something new to our list.”
Adebayo made the All-Star team this season as a reserve selected by the coaches, just as he did in 2020 – when he also won the skills competition at All-Star Weekend – and 2023. He will become the seventh player to make the All-Star game as a member of the Heat, and the first since Dwyane Wade in 2016.
Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Alonzo Mourning and Anthony Mason have also played in the All-Star Game as Heat members. Mason replaced Grant Hill in 2001 due to injury, while Bosh replaced Rajon Rondo in 2013 due to injury.
“My lineup decision was easy,” Rivers said. “I looked at Big Joel being out, what other (center) we have on the team, and Bam got that honor. That’s good for him, too. It’s funny, I told him that in the locker room. He didn’t know. I thought he knew because I told the league yesterday that he knew. You could see he was very happy.”
Adebayo – a member of the U.S. Olympic team that won a gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and someone who is expected to be part of the team that will be seeking a fifth consecutive gold medal at this summer’s Paris Olympics – is a four-time member of the defensive squad. In each of the last four seasons, he has finished no worse than fifth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Adebayo is averaging 20.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 1 block per game this season, his seventh with the Heat and first as Miami’s captain. No Heat player has ever finished a season with all those averages and only two players have averaged at least that much in all five categories this season – Embiid and Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo.