The Heat star, Bam Adebayo, remembers his nerve-wracking first encounter with “Godfather” Pat Riley.
When Bam Adebayo first met Heat president Pat Riley back in 2017, he experienced a feeling that was all too familiar.
The Miami Heat are a mysterious team, and Pat Riley, the president of basketball operations, is at the center of it all. In an effort to keep the Heat competitive, Riley manages to pull a rabbit out of his hat and exudes excellence. When Bam Adebayo visited with Riley in the days before the 2017 NBA Draft, he sensed the frightening air that comes with Riley’s prestige.
The Heat’s star big man talked about his first meeting with Riley and how the nine-time champion lived up to his nickname as the “Godfather” by setting the tone in his office during an appearance on Point Game with John Wall and C.J. Toledano.
“Everyone is referring to Pat Riley as the ‘Godfather.'” The first thing that comes to mind is, “Damn, what’s going to happen?” I’m going to speak with him when I walk in my pre-draft. There’s only one lamp, the Godfather s**t, and every other light is out. This man’s workplace likely has eight windows, all of which have blinds closed. Like one lamp, and we’re going to sit here and have a conversation like this. Adebayo remarked, “You walk in like, damn he really is on this s**t.”
“I felt uneasy.”
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 because of his defensive versatility and on-court personification of Heat culture, Adebayo would still have won Pat Riley over even if the debate had gone in a different direction.
Adebayo continued, “It wasn’t because I was the best; it was more like I had that dawg in me.” Throughout my pre-draft workout, they were attempting to gauge my versatility. Can you guard 1–5 then? 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.”
Bam Adebayo would mostly play off the bench in his first two seasons of the league, thus it took some time for him to establish himself as the Heat’s starting center. 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 desires that Bam Adebayo advance with 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.
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