NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 6, 2023

Bam Adebayo

Miami Heat

Practice Day

Q. What's the best advice you've gotten to kind of prepare for this Finals?

BAM ADEBAYO: Best advice I've gotten? I think it was in the bubble. In the bubble, D-Wade called UD on FaceTime. I was in the room, obviously. He was like, hey, man, let me talk to young fella. He said the biggest things about the Finals is really embrace and cherish the moment because they do not come around often.

It's not one of those things where you're like, all right, I'll just get here next year, because it's not that easy. Teams change, players change, coaches change. So really embrace that moment.

Q. Duncan had that spurt that really helped you guys in the second half. In what ways have you seen him grow and develop in terms of reading the floor, putting the ball on the floor and attacking?

BAM ADEBAYO: I would say Duncan has definitely evolved into he can put the basketball on the floor now. He feels comfortable doing that. He feels comfortable making plays for other people.

Obviously, he is one of the best shooters in the league when he ignites, when he gets on fire. It's hard to stop Duncan Robinson.

Q. Kevin had a long outlet pass to you that resulted in a penalty plus the ball. I wanted to know from you what makes Kevin's outlet passes so special, and did you have to do anything differently when he joined the team to sort of embrace how he throws that ball?

BAM ADEBAYO: I feel like the best thing about Kevin Love's passing is it's always on the money. They're always right there. Hands ready, it's in the pocket.

My biggest change would be on a team with K-Love, as you can see, as soon as he gets the rebound, I take off running. I feel like we've all benefited from that.

Q. You were just talking about embracing the moment and players change, teams change. I believe players win. But talk about Coach Spo, great experience here, and his ability to make tweaks from game to game and what that means to you guys and how much you trust that.

BAM ADEBAYO: He's been to how many Finals at this point? So he has seen everything but the win. Him being in those moments, him cherishing those moments, I feel like he is comfortable here.

He isn't making anything up. He isn't trying to figure it out, this, that and the third. He has been through so much with so many other great players that I feel like he settles in in these moments. This is when he really gets comfortable. This is when he doesn't really get really rattled. This is when he comes up with the game plan for us to be successful.

Q. Bam, you've been complimentary of Nikola Jokic in the past. How would you describe the challenge of facing him at this stage?

BAM ADEBAYO: We both have something on the line, which is a championship. Obviously, it's going to be a fight. He is a great player. He is a two-time MVP, and you respect that.

Q. You were at the line for some clinching free throws, crowd is going crazy, stuff on the video board and all that stuff. What do you focus on? How do you handle a moment like that?

BAM ADEBAYO: You treat it like you're the only man in the arena. You take your time, inhale, exhale and then you go back to all them times you had to shoot free throws after running suicides, running 10s, being dog tired after practice having to make free throws. You just go back to those moments, and then it gives you that sort of confidence, like oh, I've been here.

You go to the line and knock them down.

Q. I know you've been in the Finals before, but what's your excitement of actually doing this in front of the home fans with a true environment in Miami tomorrow night?

BAM ADEBAYO: I'm expecting it to be, every time we make a layup, free throw, there to be an avalanche of noise. And obviously when we get stops.

For us, we've seen what this city looks like when it's been in the Finals. So it's good to have the opportunity to be back in front of these fans and have this opportunity.

Q. Speaking of Jokic, one of the most under-talked about or underrated parts of his game is his basketball IQ. What have you noticed in that sense in terms of what challenge that presents?

BAM ADEBAYO: He can go through two or three coverages and figure it out in a matter of, up and down, up and down. He's already read the game, reading the game. So the biggest thing for us is switching up the coverages and having him see different looks.

Q. You guys double and triple sometimes Jokic. What do you think of this notion that you guys let him have his points in the last game. How would you compare that with the intensity? I want to see what you think about that, and your comparison with the intensity that you guys played?

BAM ADEBAYO: The biggest thing for us guarding him is just make him take difficult shots. We're not just going to just let a man go get 40. That's just not smart by any means, especially when you're guarding a guy who has been the two-time MVP of this league.

Biggest thing for us is force everybody on the team into tough shots, and you live with that result. Going into the intensity part, it's good to be in our environment. It's good to be in the 305 and have the crowd on our side.

Q. With Jokic kind of changing his depth in the pick-and-roll throughout the game, how much does that change things for you, whether he's back, in the middle or way up to touch?

BAM ADEBAYO: It doesn't. My thing in the pick-and-roll is to make sure that the guard gets open, so set a great screen.

Q. You mentioned the importance of making other guys take tough shots. Jamal Murray obviously had a big game for them in Game 1; a little more quiet in Game 2. Wondering what you saw out of Jimmy in that defensive matchup in Game 2.

BAM ADEBAYO: He takes the challenge. Whatever the assignment is, I feel like he'll take the challenge. He's going to find a way to make it tough on him.

Biggest thing for us is having a guy like that that is willing to take the challenge on defense and also be the No. 1 option on offense.

Q. I was watching film of your zone, and in one single possession you can go from 3-2 to 1-3-1 if someone is in the nail, and nothing happens. It's like you've done this for years. Is it just that you're all professional basketball players, or how long did it take you to gel to that level of achievement?

BAM ADEBAYO: One, we have incredible experience on our team. We have veterans who have run 2-3, 3-2, 1-3-1, whatever that may be. And then also, we drill it to nausea, to the point where we're tired of it. But we also have that in our back pocket just in case we need it.