Nigerian-American basketball star Femi “Bam” Adebayo Shines in NBA
Miami Heat’s Femi ‘Bam’ Adebayo is set to become an All Star with his sterling performances on the courts of basketball.
Born on July 18, 1997 to a Nigerian father and an African-American mother in Newark, New Jersey, Adebayo was given the nickname “Bam Bam” by his mother when, while watching The Flintstones at age one, he flipped over a coffee table in a manner similar to the show’s character Bamm-Bamm Rubble.
Adebayo first attended Northside High School in Pinetown, North Carolina. As a junior, he averaged 32.2 points and 21 rebounds a game.
Impressive performance on a consistent basis has earned Miami Heat’s bigman, Bam Adebayo a spot in this year NBA All Star conversations.
He is one of only two players in the NBA who are averaging more than 15 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal: The other is Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee Bucks and the reigning MVP.
The 22-year-old American professional basketball player played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats before he was taken 14th overall in the 2017 NBA draft by the Miami Heat.
“Adebayo is not just doing those impact things that cannot be easily-documented statistically, but the stats are starting to become dramatically impressive on a game-by-game basis,” an NBA analyst Duncan Smith wrote.
He is also being mentioned in conversations for both the Defensive Player of the Year and the Most Improved Player awards.
He is playing 34.1 minutes per game in his first full season as starter after usurping the starting spot Hassan Whiteside a year ago and making him expendable. He is shooting 57.3 percent from the floor and 68.9 percent from the free throw line.
Thus far, he has posted career-highs in most major categories, averaging 15.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.
Adebayo was rated as a five-star recruit and considered one of the best high school prospects of the 2016 class. He was ranked as the No. 5 overall recruit and No. 2 power forward in the 2016 high school class.
Adebayo was cut from the United States national team for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. He was subsequently named a finalist for the U.S. Olympic team in February 2020.