Bam Adebayo appeared to let his frustration get the better of him this week.
The Miami Heat big Adebayo drew criticism during Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks for an ugly incident. In the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, at which point Dallas already had a comfortable double-digit lead, Adebayo was trying to jockey for position down low and yanked on the arm of Mavs forward Derrick Jones Jr. (his old Heat teammate no less). Jones doubled over in pain and needed medical attention on the sideline, missing the final three minutes of the game.
Here is the video.
The three-time All-Star Adebayo had a real stinker on Wednesday, finishing with eight points and three rebounds in the final 111-92 defeat on 3-for-13 shooting as a team-worst minus-20. However, such careless play is not justifiable.
Adebayo ought to be aware of this, particularly considering that Kevin Love, Adebayo’s current Miami teammate, once had a serious injury from having his arm pulled in a comparable manner. Earlier in the season, Heat wing Duncan Robinson was also the victim of a similar play and publicly criticized it as a dirty act.
The Heat will most likely return to the play-in tournament for a second consecutive year following their loss to Dallas on Wednesday. If they want to have any chance of making a long playoff run this year, Adebayo needs to improve significantly both in terms of skill and intelligence.
