Bam Adebayo enters Olympics with opportunity to win second gold medal and make Heat history

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo is about to make his second appearance in the Olympics. His role on Team USA will be different this time around, but the goal is the same.

“Win the gold — short, sweet and to the point,” Adebayo said when asked what he wants to accomplish in the coming weeks during the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Adebayo, 27, will begin the quest for his second gold medal when the Team USA men’s basketball team opens the Olympics on Sunday against Serbia (11:15 a.m., NBC) in Lille, France. This contest marks the first of three games for Team USA during the group phase before eight of the 12 men’s basketball national teams that qualified for the Olympics advance to the knockout rounds.

Along with Adebayo, Team USA’s 12-man roster for the Paris Olympics includes LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, Anthony Davis of the Lakers, Devin Booker of the Suns, Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, Jrue Holiday of the Celtics, Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers and Derrick White of the Celtics.

Serbia head coach Svetislav Pesic said in June that he believes this version of Team USA “is stronger than the Dream Team of 1992” that was headlined by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. In other words, Pesic believes the 2024 Team USA roster is the best in the history of the sport.

“I think we have the potential to be one of the best teams that have been in the Olympics on the side of the USA squad,” Adebayo said when asked about Pesic’s comment. “So that’s great that he said it. But he’s not saying that just to be like, ‘We’ll lay down.’ He can be saying that to blow smoke up our [butts], to be honest. For us, it’s keeping the main thing the main thing and that’s winning the gold medal, and then we can talk about that later.”

But playing on a team with so much talent comes with some individual sacrifice. Just ask Adebayo, who has moved to a bench role for his second Olympic appearance after playing as the starting center when Team USA won the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021.

With Embiid on this Team USA roster and playing as the starting center during the national team’s undefeated 5-0 exhibition schedule, Adebayo is expected to be used as a reserve in tandem with Davis to form a double-big frontcourt in the bench unit that proved to be effective during pre-Olympic friendlies.

“I’m not there to go get 30 points,” Adebayo said of his role on this Team USA squad. “Obviously, we have enough people out there to get 30. But my role is bigger than that. Just being one of the leaders, being one of the guys who over-communicates, the defensive anchor and being able to put guys in the right positions where they can be successful.”

During Team USA’s five-game exhibition schedule ahead of the Olympics, Adebayo averaged 8.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 61.5 percent from the field and 3 of 9 (33.3 percent) from three-point range.

For the Heat this past regular season, Adebayo averaged 19.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 52.1 percent from the field. He was also named to the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team for the first time in his career this past season after being selected for the All-Defensive Second Team in each of the previous four seasons.

“It’s one of those things where you have so much talent, you got to somehow figure out how to be a chameleon and kind of mix in and find your niche,” Adebayo said of the adjustment that comes with being part of Team USA’s loaded roster. “This isn’t about who can go get 30. We’re all the No. 1 or No. 2 options on our team. So just being able to really go out here and just make the main thing the main thing, which is winning. You figure out little things you can do that contribute to that.”

It helps that Adebayo has his NBA coach by his side this time. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is an assistant coach for the national team under Team USA head coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors, marking Spoelstra’s first Olympic experience.

The other current Heat player competing in the Paris Games is forward Nikola Jovic, who is on Serbia’s roster. Jovic told the Associated Press that he expects to play in a reserve role for Serbia in Sunday’s Olympic opener against Team USA after recently returning from an ankle injury suffered last month during an offseason workout.

“I feel like Spo, if we do win, I feel like he should get his own special banner just because it’s his first one,” said Adebayo, who already has a banner hanging in the Kaseya Center rafters for winning his first Olympic gold medal three years ago. “I feel like it’s a great opportunity for him to be a coach that has won a gold medal.”

For Adebayo, a second Olympic gold medal would only add to his already impressive basketball resume.

This upcoming season will mark Adebayo’s eighth in the NBA after being drafted by the Heat with the 14th overall pick in 2017. He has made three NBA All-Star Game appearances in his first seven NBA seasons — all spent with the Heat.

Adebayo has also produced at a pace that would make him one of the greatest Heat players ever if he spends all or most of his career with the organization. At Adebayo’s current pace, he and retired Heat icon Dwyane Wade could end up as No. 1 and No. 2 as the Heat’s all-time career leaders in categories like two-point field goals made, free throws made, assists, steals and points, among others, while also on track to overtake Udonis Haslem as the Heat’s all-time leading rebounder within the next five seasons.

Adebayo, who is under contract with the Heat through the 2028-29 season after signing a three-year maximum contract extension this summer, now joins Wade as the only two players to compete in multiple Olympics while under contract with the Heat. If the Team USA men’s basketball team can come away with the gold medal for the fifth straight Olympics, Adebayo will become the first player in franchise history to win multiple gold medals while with the Heat.

“Going into year 8, you think about how fast it goes,” Adebayo said. “Every year, I just sit there and reflect about where I started when I got drafted to being a potential two-time Olympic [gold medalist] and being able to have a chance to defend the gold. It really puts it in perspective for me and just being blessed to have these opportunities.”

Team USA Olympic men’s basketball schedule

Sunday vs. Serbia at 11:15 a.m. Eastern Time in Lille, France

Wednesday vs. South Sudan at 3 p.m. ET in Lille, France

Aug. 3 vs. Puerto Rico at 11:15 a.m. ET in Lille, France

Aug. 6 quarterfinals in Paris

Aug. 8 semifinals in Paris

Aug. 10 bronze and gold medal games in Paris