“You Can’t Be A Role Player”: Dwayne Wade Sends Clear Message To Bam Adebayo On His Early Season Struggles With Heat

Miami’s vision to make the Giannis-era work still hasn’t come to fruition, as the team keeps struggling to secure the third win of the season. Despite Antetokounmpo having a big night against the Los Angeles Lakers this Monday, the scoreboard stood at 138-117 in the Lakers’ favor, and 2-5 for the Heat. And former NBA star Dwyane Wade weighed in on the situation.

“He gotta be the number 1 option with the 2nd unit guys. Point blank, period. You can’t be a role player with the role players,” he said (on the WY Network podcast) about Heat star Bam Adebayo, who hasn’t been out of the shooting slump yet. “Giannis is in the game; Giannis is the No.1. You’ve to be No.2, whatever that looks like. No.2 doesn’t mean that ‘Giannis scores, I score’ … The shooters are struggling; we know Klay is struggling, we know Tim is struggling, we know Wiggins is struggling. But here’s why they’re struggling some. There’s no rhythm, flow to the game.”

While the Lakers’ superstar Luka Doncic made headlines with another 40+ point night, adding a game-high 42 points, 13 assists, and 7 rebounds, Antetokounmpo also had a team-high score of 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists. The numbers could’ve gone up had the Heat opened up more opportunities for him than wanting to be the “role players,” especially Adebayo, in this case.

The 6’9 Center just added 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists against the Lakers, while averaging 16.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 3.4 assists across 7 games.

This sort of sluggish play from the player who recorded a career high and the second-highest scoring game in NBA history with 83 points last season isn’t just expected. Worse, Miami hoped and waited for him to get back to form, but that isn’t happening. As Wade mentioned, there’s a significant drop in production from other shooters as well.

Now, as easy as it is to blame Antetokounmpo for this, Wade believes that the team needs to figure out their own roles. It’s a new roster, and uncomfortable conversations need to happen so everyone can see where they stand.

The “if Giannis ain’t got it, I better make this shot” mentality is causing more pressure on the team than it is relieving. Moreover, the NBA icon stated that when the shots aren’t falling, the team has to at least improve their defense. Which, again, hasn’t been the case with the Heat.

“It’s going to take them time to figure out,” he added. “(But when) there are a lot of things to figure out offensively, you’d expect them to be a really, really good defensive team … They have nothing to hang their hat on right now. They’re not a team yet. They are a bunch of individual guys that haven’t had uncomfortable conversations yet. They like each other; they’re great guys individually. But you have to get to some uncomfortable sh*t.”

Sure, Wade’s words felt extra-fitting to Adebayo. However, the whole team needs to understand their new roles and elevate their games if they want Antetokounmpo’s numbers to mean something to the team rather than individual achievements.

For now, the November 4 game against the LA Clippers will be their next trial to overcome.