Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) huddles with his teammates before their NBA game against the Golden State Warriors at Kaseya Center on Nov. 19, 2025, in Miami. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
It has been a rough month for the Miami Heat and three-time All-Star center Bam Adebayo on the court. But off the court, Adebayo again made sure to produce positive holiday memories for children around Miami.
Adebayo held his annual Christmas Toy Drive on Monday at Kaseya Center, offering over 36,000 toys to more than 2,000 children from throughout Miami. The event was made possible through Adebayo’s “Bam, Books & Brotherhood Foundation” in collaboration with Trina’s Kids Foundation.
“Being able to impact the community, that’s the biggest thing about me,” Adebayo said, with the Heat hoping to get back on track on Friday against the Hawks in Atlanta (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun) after dropping eight of its last nine games to fall to .500 at 15-15 this season. “Being able to change the way our kids think, just try to put positive things in their lives. They’re the next up for the next generation, they’re our youth. So we’re looking forward to them impacting our world.”
Adebayo, who grew up in North Carolina, has made Miami his home since the Heat drafted him with the 14th overall pick in 2017. He’s in his ninth NBA season.
“Man, Miami has given me so much,” Adebayo, 28, said. “They gave me a chance, first of all, to turn it into something like this where you can go into your own arena, pack it out with X amount of toys, and we get to spread that holiday cheer. A lot of this is because they cheer for me, so it’s one way of giving back.”
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo speaks to reporters during the Miami Heat 34th Annual Thanksgiving Celebration at the Miami Rescue Mission at 2020 NW 1st. Ave., on Nov. 18, 2025, in Miami. SAM NAVARRO Special for the Miami Herald
A few weeks after Adebayo supported Heat coach Erik Spoelstra by attending his second annual 5K benefitting Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and the Miami Heat Charitable Fund, Spoelstra was there for Adebayo’s Christmas Toy Drive on Monday.
It’s a special and rare player-coach partnership in today’s ever-changing NBA, as Adebayo is one of only three players in the league who are in their ninth straight season with the same head coach. The other two players are the accomplished Golden State Warriors duo of Stephen Curry and Draymond Green with coach Steve Kerr.
“It’s a very rare thing where a player and a coach get to be together this long,” Adebayo said. “It’s been a little familiar in our organization, but it’s not regular around our league where you can have somebody who’s been nine years with the same organization and a coach that’s been here for 18. So being able to go into all those fights and being able to obviously talk to one another, get used to one another, get comfortable where you can go into the office or like we can speak to one another on a human basis and it not be about basketball. It’s an incredible thing.
“I’m blessed to have a coach like Spo. A coach that just never gives up, wants to win, has that competitive fire just like me. So when you have that in the room, man, you always give yourself a chance.”
On the same day that Adebayo held his Christmas Toy Drive on Monday, retired Heat captain and Miami native Udonis Haslem held his own Christmas event. Haslem hosted the 17th annual B-Wootie Holiday Program, welcoming 100 outstanding students from Miami-Dade and Broward County schools to a special holiday shopping spree and celebration in honor of his late stepmother Barbara Wooten.
Haslem’s influence on Adebayo can be felt on the court and off the court, with Monday’s overlapping holiday events further proof of that.
“Him and [Dwyane Wade] paved the way for me to be able to do things like this,” Adebayo said during his toy drive. “Being able to partake in the community, you got to find a community to start in and to impact first. Obviously UD showed me the way, D-Wade showed me the way. And now it’s me paving the way. It’s one of those special things. It’s kind of like keeping it in the family. But at the end of the day, we’re all still three taking care of the 305.”