Heat’s Bam Adebayo on third All-Star appearance, his highlight of the night and earning ‘respect’

The defensive-minded Bam Adebayo looked out of place at times in an NBA All-Star Game that included very little defense. But that is what makes the Miami Heat center an All-Star.

Adebayo’s game is built around all-word defense, hard screens, midrange jumpers, rolls to the basket and a lot of dribble handoffs. That’s not the best fit for an All-Star Game that includes a lot of threes and points.

While the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 211-186 on Sunday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to cap off All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, Adebayo scored just three of his team’s 211 points.

“Man, I got to get teammates that pass the ball, man,” Adebayo said with a half smile prior to leaving Indianapolis to continue a break that ends when the Heat resumes practice on Thursday in Miami. “It’s rough out there.”

As the East set an All-Star Game record for points, threes made (42) and three-point attempts (97) by a single team on Sunday, Adebayo closed his third All-Star appearance with a game-low three points and two shot attempts in 17 minutes. He also finished with two rebounds and two assists.

For perspective, Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard totaled 39 points on 23 three-point attempts to earn the All-Star Game MVP.

“Man, listen. It ain’t that easy,” Adebayo said when asked if he tried to get teammates to pass him the ball. “As much as I would love to be MVP, sometimes it’s another guy’s turn.”

This has become an All-Star Game trend for Adebayo. He has yet to score double-digit points in an All-Star Game, totaling just 15 points on nine shot attempts during his three appearances.

But for Adebayo, he has learned to appreciate the All-Star experience without needing to score a bunch of points in the game.

“A fun opportunity,” Adebayo said minutes after walking off the court on Sunday. “Always blessed to come back. Always blessed to try to make this a routine and being able to be in my third, seeing the guys that I’ve come into the league with. We keep seeing each other at this thing.”

Adebayo, who was the Heat’s lone representative in this season’s All-Star Game, is one of only six players in franchise history who have been voted into the All-Star Game three or more times as members of the Heat. The others are Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

Adebayo, who was initially selected by the head coaches as an East All-Star reserve, started Sunday as a replacement for injured Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. Adebayo became one of only seven Heat players to start an All-Star Game, joining Wade, James, Bosh, O’Neal, Mourning and Anthony Mason.

“Respect, at the end of the day,” Adebayo, 26, said of what that all represents. “Being able to, obviously, get to this thing three times, you want it to become a routine. You want it to be an every year thing. For me, it’s just respect from all the coaches who voted me in and respect for who I am and what I do.”

Despite the underwhelming numbers, Adebayo did have one memorable moment during Sunday’s game.

Adebayo’s only points of the night came on a pull-up three less than five minutes into the game after inbounding the ball off of Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic’s back and then dribbling into the shot. It was a rare three-point make for Adebayo, who is 1 of 11 on threes this season and 2 of 29 (6.9 percent) on threes in the last three regular seasons.

“Tell Spo [Heat coach Erik Spoelstra],” Adebayo joked to reporters when Sunday’s three-point make was brought up. “Pull the clip up, show Spo.”

The fact is three-pointers aren’t a part of Adebayo’s NBA role right now and that’s one of the reasons he has struggled to generate offense for himself in All-Star Games.

But even though Adebayo might sometimes look out of place on the All-Star stage because his game isn’t suited for a high-scoring three-point barrage, he has learned through his three All-Star opportunities that he belongs in the showcase event.

“It’s a stepping stone to what you want at the end of your career,” Adebayo said. ”When you look back at it and be like, ‘I gave basketball everything.’ But for the end of the year, you want to go from All-Star to All-NBA, championships, DPOY [Defensive Player of the Year], whatever the case may be. Because you feel like you’ve done one thing, why not try to do something else.”

Adebayo, who is one of only five NBA players averaging at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and four assists per game this season, will continue the pursuit of something else when the Heat resumes its schedule Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center.

As Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. said after being eliminated in the first round of Saturday’s NBA Slam Dunk Contest, it’s the final 27 regular-season games after the break that matter most to Miami and not what happens during All-Star Weekend. The Heat stands in seventh place in the East at 30-25 this season.

“It’s about the real games that matter,” Jaquez said. “So we’re going to get back to work.”