Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat looks on against the Detroit Pistons during the fourth quarter at Kaseya Center on March 08, 2026 in Miami. Rich Storry Getty Images
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo is known for his defense and consistent ability to produce positive minutes. After all, Adebayo has made one of the NBA’s All-Defensive teams in five seasons and is on his way to finishing with a positive plus/minus for the eighth straight season.
But Adebayo has also continued to grow and evolve as a scorer over his NBA career, with proof of that coming in the form of an impressive milestone. With Adebayo scoring the 10,000th point of his NBA career during Sunday’s home win over the Detroit Pistons, he joined Dwyane Wade as the only players to reach that mark in Heat history.
“That’s a lot of buckets,” Adebayo, 28, said.
For perspective, Adebayo is one of only nine NBA players who were drafted in 2017 or later and have already reached 10,000 career points. The others are Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Los Angeles Lakers forward Luka Doncic, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Washington Wizards guard Trae Young, San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards and New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson.
Adebayo, who is averaging 18.9 points per game while taking a career-high 15.2 field-goal attempts and a career-high five three-point attempts per game this season, is the only player on that list who has also made an NBA All-Defensive team.
“Man, it means a lot, coming from somebody who got drafted to play defense. And everybody thinking I was just a lob threat.” Adebayo said of getting to 10,000 career points ahead of the Heat’s matchup against the Wizards on Tuesday night at Kaseya Center. “But it just shows the growth of my game.
“Obviously this organization believes in me. And I’ve been here that long to where I can get 10k with the same team. And obviously being in the history books behind somebody like D. Wade. So it’s a great accomplishment.”
Adebayo, who has been with the Heat since Miami drafted him with the 14th overall pick in 2017, is still far from catching Wade. Adebayo is still not even halfway to Wade, who scored 21,556 points for the Heat.
“I think the credit also is to his competitive will and work ethic,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Adebayo reaching 10,000 career points. “He came in not known necessarily as a scorer. He’s worked and willed himself into that. And for this particular team, his scoring is really important and the playmaking. We’re getting a lot of triggers off of his catches and leads, and he’s still just as unselfish as he’s been before.”
But Adebayo does have another Heat record in his sights.
Adebayo has made clear he’s coming for Udonis Haslem’s Heat rebounding record. Haslem, who is the only undrafted player in NBA history to currently be the all-time leading rebounder for a franchise, has become a mentor for Adebayo over the years.
Adebayo enters Tuesday with 5,584 rebounds since being drafted by the Heat. That puts Adebayo just 207 rebounds behind Haslem’s franchise record of 5,791 rebounds in a Heat uniform, with Adebayo on track to pass Haslem and become the franchise’s all-time leading rebounder by next season.
For now, though, Adebayo is focused on pushing the Heat into a top-six spot in the Eastern Conference to avoid the NBA’s play-in tournament for the first time in four years.
Adebayo has been dominant lately, averaging 21.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.6 blocks per appearance during the Heat’s first nine games since the All-Star break. The Heat has outscored opponents by an eye-opening 19.8 points per 100 possessions with Adebayo on the court during this stretch.
Among the 74 players who entered Tuesday averaging at least 30 minutes per game since the All-Star break, only Charlotte Hornets rookie guard Kon Knueppel has a better net rating than Adebayo during this span.
“We know how impactful he can be on both sides of the floor, and that’s the benefit and the luxury of having someone like him,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said of Adebayo. “He can come out there on any given night and have zero points, 15 rebounds, eight assists, and then he’s locking up on the defensive end. So every night is going to be different. It’s just about, like I said, coming in here every single day with an open mindset to whatever it may be and just continue to get better.”
Injury report
The Heat will remain without Keshad Johnson (G League), Nikola Jovic (lower back injury management), Norman Powell (right groin strain), Rozier (not with team), Andrew Wiggins (left big toe sesamoiditis) and Jahmir Young (G League) for Tuesday’s matchup against the Wizards.
In addition, Heat second-year center Kel’el Ware is questionable for Tuesday’s game after suffering a strained right shoulder during Sunday’s win over the Pistons.
But the Heat is expected to get back three-point shooting forward Simone Fontecchio on Tuesday after he missed the last three games with a strained left groin. Fontecchio is listed as probable.
The Wizards ruled out Anthony Davis (left finger sprain), Kyshawn George (left elbow sprain), D’Angelo Russell (not with team), Jamir Watkins (left ankle/foot sprain) and Cam Whitmore (right shoulder deep vein thrombosis) for Tuesday’s game in Miami.