Miami's Bam Adebayo wants in on the NBA's list of elite big men - ESPN

AS BAM ADEBAYO entered the Chicago hotel lobby from the team bus, he had a conversation with himself about mind over matter. It was just after noon on gameday and a frigid opponent was waiting upstairs.

«I'm trying to get my heart rate up,» the Miami Heat All-Star center told ESPN, nervously eyeing the elevator as he prepared for his ice bath. «So when I do get there, it's not as much of a shocker.»

In June 2023, Adebayo left the floor at the end of Game 5 of the NBA Finals in Denver as blue, yellow, white and red confetti rained down on him and his defeated teammates. As the party started for the new NBA champion Nuggets, a bit of clarity struck him.

He had battled a sore hamstring during the playoffs, then a right shoulder injury during the Finals amid a grueling struggle against the Nuggets' rugged star, Nikola Jokic. Numerous teammates had been alongside him in the training room. Gabe Vincent had a bad ankle. Cody Zeller had a broken nose. Tyler Herro missed nearly the entire postseason with a broken hand. Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler were banged up.

The Nuggets' injury report, meanwhile, was empty. As he was feeling frustration, exhaustion and acceptance, this detail blared in his head.

«That's what really hit home when that buzzer went off,» said Adebayo, whose Heat face the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday (ESPN, 10 p.m. ET). «When you get to the Finals, those are the two things that matter: who's going make the least amount of mistakes and who's going to be the team that's less injured. I was like, 'Damn, a lot of stuff is factored into why we lost.'»

In a reality where a run back to the Finals might mean long series against Eastern Conference giants such as Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kristaps Porzingis