{"id":8807,"date":"2024-12-08T09:21:25","date_gmt":"2024-12-08T09:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=8807"},"modified":"2024-12-08T09:21:25","modified_gmt":"2024-12-08T09:21:25","slug":"heats-erik-spoelstra-recounts-bam-adebayos-leadership-in-win-over-suns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=8807","title":{"rendered":"Heat\u2019s Erik Spoelstra recounts Bam Adebayo\u2019s leadership in win over Suns.."},"content":{"rendered":"

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MIAMI \u2013 The\u00a0Miami Heat beat the Phoenix Suns\u00a0Saturday night, 121-111, to make it two straight for the team, as it was the start of this weekend\u2019s back-to-back. It has been a\u00a0productive stretch for Heat star Bam Adebayo\u00a0after building upon his efficient outing against the\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0last Wednesday, but he showed his leadership as praised by head coach Erik Spoelstra.<\/p>\n

Heat\u2019s\u00a0Erik Spoelstra\u00a0shares his \u201clove\u201d for Bam Adebayo\u2019s leadership<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) celebrates with guard Tyler Herro (14) after Herro made a three-point basket against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at Kaseya Center.\u00a0Jim Rassol-Imagn Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Adebayo would have another outing where he almost obtained a triple-double as he scored a team-high 25 points with 12 rebounds and eight assists. The team would make their mark in the third quarter on both sides of the ball, where it was Adebayo\u2019s leadership that stood out for Spoelstra as\u00a0he revealed a moment\u00a0where the center called out the coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Bam has been playing winning basketball and whatever how many games this is, five, six games where he\u2019s basically had close to a triple-double every single game,\u201d Spoelstra said. \u201cAgain, it\u2019s a shame that everybody will only notice if he\u2019s scoring. We don\u2019t want him thinking like that. It\u2019ll all come together as long as we\u2019re winning, but he can impact in so many different ways. And you know, his leadership in that third quarter is what I saw.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cEvery side out of bounds that they were running, he was the one organizing everybody,\u201d Spoelstra continued. \u201cI tried to get our team organized into a zone, I messed that up, I called it too late, and he\u2019s yelling at me. I love it, you know, I want him taking control of the defense. He is our voice, and every coverage he was communicating, every huddle, he was making sure everybody understood what we were doing and what adjustments we were making. When he\u2019s like that, you know, he\u2019s a special kind of leader.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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