NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 11, 2023

Bam Adebayo

Miami Heat

Practice Day

Q. Of course this is a tough situation for you guys. What's the preparation for this game tomorrow?

BAM ADEBAYO: By any means necessary. We go out there, lay it on the line and you let the chips fall where they lay. Nobody wants to be in this position, but for us we've been through so much adversity in this season, who else would be in this situation?

So for us, we've dealt with adversity before. Biggest thing for us is to go out there, play basketball and have ultimate clarity.

Q. Spo was up there earlier, talking about going all the way back to training camp, saying that your intrasquad scrimmages were so intense that people were screaming at each other, screaming at the coaches. What do you remember about those days, and who is like that on your team?

BAM ADEBAYO: Going back to the first day of training camp, that feels so long ago. I do remember everybody getting intense because it's competition. I feel like that's what brings out the best in us. We just start competing. Emotions start flaring and you get to the moment of truth. It's competition, bottom line. For us, it's competition. We leave it at competition, and that's what it is.

Q. When people talk about Jimmy Butler, they talk about Playoff Jimmy and how he grows in the Playoffs. That's going to be a big part of his legacy. For you, how would you describe what he means to you, to your team? Is there something different about Jimmy that we don't see that makes him just special?

BAM ADEBAYO: The difference y'all don't see is the will I feel like he plays with when he gets in the playoffs. Everybody expect it to be skill, talent, finesse. He brings a different element. It's rugged, it in the mud and it's winning basketball still.

Everybody looks at one side and says, oh, we like the way they play, it's finesse, it's this, that and the third. He brings an element of no, we are in the mud, we are going to grind this out and, at the end of the day, we are still going to win.

Q. Is there any, I don't know, not comfort, but you guys just faced a team that won three games against when you were one win away from advancing. Is there anything you can take from that, knowing that the team you're facing now is one win away from advancing and you need three in a row at all?

BAM ADEBAYO: I know what it feels like to be in that position. I know what it feels like to be in that situation. We have had guys be down 3-1 in our locker room and them share their experiences and their stories.

For us, man, it's the first to four. That's the mentality.

Q. Now that you are talking about that, you have Kevin Love, the only guy that was part of that team that came back in a Finals 3-1. How important is having him, and did he tell you something interesting about that to take now to these games that are coming?

BAM ADEBAYO: K-Love has been a great asset to our team, just not only on the court but off the court. Him sharing his stories, especially down 3-1, he talks about how they go into the locker room and have a conversation and they go out and will wins. It starts with just getting one, and then you go from there.

Q. Jimmy Butler came to the Heat four years ago. You've been here longer than that. Spo has been here longer than that. UD has been here longer than that. But in that four- to five-year range, what do you build together in terms of your working relationships and your ability to get out of situations like this one, on the court, off the court, however you think about it?

BAM ADEBAYO: You build trust, connection, brotherhood. It goes down the list. But it all ends up us being connected and as one. I feel like when you have that much connection with somebody in the moments of truth, you all can be honest with one another that this needs to be done, this needs to happen.

When you're in those situations, there's no emotion behind it. It's facts. Both of y'all receive the message and you go out there and do everything you can for whatever that message was.

Q. Would you say defending the pick-and-roll, the biggest challenge is the unpredictability?

BAM ADEBAYO: I think their offense is all unpredictable. He's a great passer, so everybody is live when he catches the ball. I don't think it's just the pick-and-roll. I think it's when anybody is sitting there, you're thinking they are not cutting, they are cutting. When you think a guy is not open, he might be open. So I feel like that's the biggest challenge that we have.

Q. Kevin and his wife had a baby today. You guys are so close. Can you share with us the emotions of him when he got the news?

BAM ADEBAYO: Obviously, when you have a special moment like that, you're obviously very happy no matter what situation you're in. To see the joy on his face for him having his baby, obviously, his wife is healthy and everybody is healthy throughout, that's the blessing that you get. That's the blessing he probably needed. That's great news for all of us that we probably needed.

Q. You've played against some great players in playoff series already, but how unique is it to go up against Nikola Jokic over these past four games?

BAM ADEBAYO: Very unique because he brings a different style of game and different type of pace to the game. You can't scout it. It is what it is. The biggest thing for us is making him take and make difficult shots.