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.
Bam yanks on DJJ’s arm – Jones hurts his shoulder
Bam sure seems to involved in plenty of “accidental” dirty plays pic.twitter.com/9APR9EfvUO
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) April 11, 2024
The three-time All-Star Adebayo had a real stinker on Wednesday, finishing with eight points and three rebounds on 3-for-13 shooting as a team-worst minus-20 in the eventual 111-92 loss. But there is no excuse for that kind of reckless play.
Adebayo should know better, especially since current Miami teammate Kevin Love once suffered a major injury by getting his arm yanked in a similar way. Heat wing Duncan Robinson was also on the receiving end of such a play earlier this season and openly called it out as a dirty move.
The loss to Dallas on Wednesday means that the Heat will almost certainly be back in the play-in tournament for a second straight year. They will need Adebayo to be a lot better (and a lot smarter) for them to have any hope of another deep playoff run this season.
