As far as Miami Heat All-Star Bam Adebayo is concerned, LeBron James went from a prospective teammate to sworn enemy within a week.
After James decided to spurn the Heat to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, Adebayo revealed what he told his newest rival in the Eastern Conference.
“…I told him in the message, I’m going to bust his a–,” Adebayo said with a smile on Tuesday, via The Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang.
“So, it’s going to be an exciting season,” he continued. “I’m excited for the East. We got a whole new turnaround in the East. So, it’s going to be exciting this year.”
Further to Adebayo’s point, this offseason saw the East, previously regarded as the weaker conference in the NBA, grow from strength to strength in the last month. While LeBron James and Jaylen Brown landed with the Sixers, Giannis Antetokounmpo got traded to Miami and the New York Knicks retained most of their core pieces from their championship-winning roster. Furthermore, the Washington Wizards formed a new star duo of Anthony Davis and Trae Young, while adding No.1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa and the Toronto Raptors added two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard.
Bam Adebayo Reacts to LeBron James News
The Heat would have likely surged to the top of the heap if they could have paired LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo with Bam Adebayo — an outcome that was widely predicted in the lead-up to James’ “Final Decision” last week.
However, Adebayo made it clear that his franchise was still optimistic for next season.
“There ain’t no disappointment,” Adebayo said of James signing with the Sixers.
“To me, you should always be happy for a person and their decision. He made a decision where he feels like it’s his best situation to win. And I feel like I’m a good friend of LeBron’s.”
Why LeBron James Spurned the Heat
Per multiple insiders, James feared that the Heat, who gutted the roster to acquire Antetokounmpo, did not have enough pieces to give him a shot at his fifth ring.
“The number one thing was winning a championship immediately which is not unheard of or shocking, but it wasn’t 100% clear that winning a championship this upcoming season was number 1 or it was chasing happiness,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said of James’ priority in free agency.
“Now that we know what he was thinking and he’s said that winning a championship immediately this year was a priority, I think that put Golden State and Miami off the listm” he added.
James himself made it clear during his “Last Decision” statement that he joined the Sixers to pursue a ring, and his decision wasn’t family- or money-related.
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