NBA FINALS: LAKERS VS. HEAT

October 9, 2020

Bam Adebayo

Miami Heat

Game 5: Postgame

Miami Heat -111, Lost Angeles Lakers - 108

Q. Can you from your perspective just describe -- I mean, you saw Jimmy do this earlier in the series with a 40-point triple-double, do it now with a 30-point-whatever-he-had triple-double. Him bent over the railing there with a couple of free throws late, Spo burning timeouts to try to get him some air. From your estimation how good was he?

BAM ADEBAYO: That's Jimmy Butler. That's our max player, that's who we go to in these moments and he's been producing. So we just got to keep contributing the best way we can and just let him take over the show.

Q. Jimmy throughout these Finals has said, we're going to need to be damn near perfect to win these games. How close to perfect has he been in these two wins?

BAM ADEBAYO: Man, he's been as close to perfect as you possibly can get. On my part I got to be better for him, so he doesn't have to carry that load as much. So my whole mindset is I got to be better for Jimmy, for my team.

So good contribution, just keep stacking these, keep building on them.

Q. You just said you need to get better. Are you a hundred percent or close to it or are you still sore from the injury, and what do you think you need to get better?

BAM ADEBAYO: Just rehabbing. That's been a big thing, just keep rehabbing. Just trying to forget about it. When you get in the Finals I don't think anybody's completely healthy, 100 percent, so I can't dictate how I play because I'm injured. I got to go out there and still play like I am.

Q. The camera kind of caught you shaking your head on the way out and you just said, "I got to be better." Is that kind of what you were thinking in your mind? And what specifically do you have to do better heading into Game 6?

BAM ADEBAYO: I just got to be more aggressive, and it's a lot of times I just got to make the right reads. It's nothing too major, just minor tweaks. But I'm going to bounce back. So we're going to figure it out.

Q. When Jimmy Butler had that first game that kind of put a lot of people on notice, you were watching from the sidelines. What's the difference for you between being out there with him as he's doing it and watching him, and taking it in as he's doing it?

BAM ADEBAYO: I'm doing the same thing. I'm gassing him up. I feel like I'm putting that battery in his back. There's a lot of times I tell him, "Don't pass."

But it comes from the heart, I want him to be great, I want him to do something special and he's been doing it. So he just has to keep being special and I'm going to keep gassing him up. If he's going to keep playing like that, we're going to keep getting W's, I'll be the biggest cheerleader on the team.

Q. You guys are on Duncan to shoot, keep shooting no matter what. Was it only a matter of time before he had a game like this in this series? And how big is it for you guys at just creating space in the paint?

BAM ADEBAYO: It's just big because -- it just depends. We keep forcing him to shoot it and sometimes he gets caught in an awkward situation, do I pass or shoot, and we always tell him shoot first and then pass later. So we're just going to keep doing that and he keeps hitting shots, keeps making the shots that he's shooting and just keeps building his confidence. That's big for Dunc, I feel like he's waking up in this series.

Q. What have you learned about playing in a NBA Finals that you didn't know in Game 1?

BAM ADEBAYO: Every possession matters. I feel like that's the biggest thing that I learned. You can go from being up five to down two in a matter of like three possessions or two possessions, it just depends. I think that's my biggest things on the NBA Finals.

Q. What's it like when you know you have to switch between Anthony Davis and LeBron James, especially after you're coming back from injury? Is it like in your mind you're already trying to calculate where LeBron might go or where AD might go? What's the defensive tendencies you have to think through?

BAM ADEBAYO: Defensive tendencies?

Q. Yeah, or what you have to think in your mind, how do you analyze the situation when you go up against those guys?

BAM ADEBAYO: Oh, you just got to make every catch tough and they just got to see hands, you got to be active. So I feel like that's the biggest thing between us two, you just got to make the catches tough, try to wear on them and try to get them tired.

Q. How important for you is it to take the momentum into Game 6?

BAM ADEBAYO: It's a win, so like we said, we know we can do it, we're trying to do something special, so we just got to keep putting our hard hats on and keep playing like we have been playing for the next game.

Q. Obviously Duncan and Nunn sort of playing with a lot of confidence today. What do you think a lot of younger guys on the team can take away from a game like this, being able to pull out one of these tight games in the Finals?

BAM ADEBAYO: Anything is possible. Like I said, as long as the people in our organization and everybody on this staff and the players believe, we got a chance to do anything. And I truly believe that, I truly feel like everybody believes, from us to the top of the organization.

Q. Last time we spoke we spoke about how you guys are 3-1 and you said that it's not the first time that a comeback has happened, we posted that on our social media and I just wanted to read you one of the comments we got and I quote, "Much respect to Miami, but Bam Adebayo can start a new religion with all that faith he has on his team." Can you please talk about the faith that you have on this team and how you can do anything if you believe, like you just said?

BAM ADEBAYO: Just because, if you don't have any belief in anything that you are going to do, then you're going to second guess yourself every time. And just having belief and just having faith and just visualize yourself succeeding and being successful, I feel like that puts positive vibes in the air. You never know. So my point is, like you said, I can start a religion? Hey, man, Bam Religion just started then. So just keep believing and, like I said, anything can happen. All right. Thank you. Black lives matter, people.