Future Watch: Bam Adebayo Rookie Basketball Cards, Heat – Over the course of the last decade, the Miami Heat have had an incredible run as a franchise. From 2010-2014, they were the class of the league. Thanks mostly to the acquisition of Lebron James and Chris Bosh. When James left the franchise in the summer of 2014, many experts questioned where the Heat would go moving forward. Without James, the team was no longer a lock to appear in the NBA Finals. To team President Pat Riley, that wasn’t a concern. Along with head coach Erik Spoelstra, Riley created a culture in Miami that has allowed the team to sustain success. The Heat are hoping their 14th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, 6’10” forward-center Bam Adebayo, can be a key building block as they build another Finals contender.
Edrice Femi “Bam” Adebayo was born in 1997 in Newark, New Jersey. He earned his nickname “Bam Bam” at age one. The story goes, his mother had The Flintstones cartoon on the television. During the show, young Edrice flipped over a coffee table similar to the character Bamm-Bamm Rubble from the cartoon.
Adebayo attended Northside High School in Pinetown, North Carolina for his junior year. That season, he averaged 32.3 points and 18 rebounds per game. He transferred to High Point Christian Academy in High Point, NC for his senior season. As a senior, he averaged 18.9 points and 13.0 rebounds per game. Adebayo’s prep career saw him competing in a number of high profile AAU leagues. This gave college scouts an opportunity to scout him against top talent. Scout, Rivals and ESPN all rated him a five-star college recruit. Bam would commit to play for coach John Calipari at the University of Kentucky. He chose the Wildcats over NC State and Auburn.
The 2016 Wildcats boasted an impressive freshman class. Along with Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox, Adebayo helped lead Kentucky to an SEC Championship. They would march all the way to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament before losing a heartbreaker to North Carolina. In 38 games for the Wildcats, Adebayo averaged 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. As a freshman, he earned SEC All-Conference Second Team honors. He would declare his entry into the 2017 NBA Draft shortly after the season.
Heading into the draft combine, Adebayo measured 6’10” with a 7’3” wingspan. Scouts noted that while this is a touch undersized for an NBA center, he makes up for it with his athleticism. From Draft Express: “He possesses impressive mobility and agility for his size, which he uses to be the first big man down the floor in transition or switch onto guards in the half-court, and impressive quickness and explosiveness which give him good potential to grow into a defensively and as a rebounder, although his small hands and less than ideal reach do hamper him at times.”
Adebayo has played in 34 of the Heat’s games this season, drawing a start in 10 of them. He’s currently averaging 20.1 minutes per game. More recently, he’s seen more minutes with injuries to Hassan Whiteside and James Johnson. Adebayo is currently averaging 6.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game with a .558 FG%. His best game so far this season has been a 16 point, 15 rebound effort in a win against the Raptors. He also had three assists and five blocks on his statline that night. The Heat are in no rush to give Adebayo starters minutes this season, and that’s fine. As long as he can grow into a solid rebounder and defender with a high FG%, he’ll be a part of the Heat’s rotation for years to come.
Bam Adebayo already has some great autographed rookie cards in the market. They can be found in 2017 Panini Contenders Collegiate Draft Picks Basketball. As a top draft pick, collectors can be assured to find NBA licensed rookie cards of Adebayo in the complete portfolio of 2017-18 Panini NBA basketball card products during the 2017-18 NBA season.
Future Watch: Bam Adebayo Rookie Basketball Cards, Heat – Other Resources
- NBA.com Player Profile – Bam Adebayo
- Bam Adebayo – Secondary Market Pricing
- Future Watch: 2017 NBA Draft Recap, Most NBA-Ready Players
- Future Watch: 2017 NBA Summer League Top Rookie Players
- NBA.Com
Future Watch: Bam Adebayo Rookie Basketball Cards, Heat – Image Gallery
Here’s a look at cards featuring Bam Adebayo in his Miami Heat uniform.
- Future Watch: Cam Reddish Rookie Basketball Cards, Hawks - March 12, 2020
- Future Watch: Chuma Okeke Rookie Basketball Cards, Magic - March 5, 2020
- Future Watch: Terence Davis Rookie Basketball Cards, Raptors - February 27, 2020