When Bam Adebayo moves up on a list in the Miami Heat’s record book or sets a Heat record, he likes to make sure Udonis Haslem knows about it. So it was not a surprise that Adebayo walked into his postgame news conference Monday while speaking to Haslem on a FaceTime call after breaking Rony Seikaly’s record for the most double-double performances in franchise history.
“He’s been texting me every spot,” Haslem said. “Every spot he comes up the chain, he texts me.”
Adebayo now has Haslem’s record on his radar after recently passing Alonzo Mourning to move into sole possession of second place on the Heat’s all-time rebounding list.
Adebayo, 27, enters Friday night’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Kaseya Center with 4,864 rebounds since being drafted by the Heat in 2017. That puts Adebayo just 927 rebounds behind Haslem’s franchise record of 5,791 rebounds in a Heat uniform.
“When I was playing, every time I got one rebound, I used to look at him and say: ‘That’s another record,’” said Haslem, who retired after 20 NBA seasons at the end of the 2022-2023 season. “So he has definitely been letting me know that he’s creeping up, that he’s going to catch me. But my response is, ‘Not this year.’”
Haslem is right. Adebayo won’t break Haslem’s record this year.
At Adebayo’s current pace (averaging 10 rebounds per game this season), he needs about 93 regular-season games to pass Haslem and become the Heat’s all-time leading rebounder. With just 21 games left to play this regular season (including Friday’s matchup against the Timberwolves), that could have Adebayo breaking Haslem’s record as soon as late next season.
“Bam has been telling me since Day 1 that he was going to break my rebounding record,” Haslem said. “So that has been the goal, that has been the expectation. So I’m not surprised. But I’m happy for him, man. He’s been the work in, he’s made himself a hell of a two-way player — not just a defensive guy, but a guy who can score the ball. He’s still growing into his own as a leader.”
As the only undrafted player in NBA history to currently be the all-time leading rebounder for a franchise, Haslem won’t be happy to lose that title. But the fact that Adebayo is the one on track to take it from him makes it easier.
“If I could pick anybody to break my record, it would be him,” said Haslem, who became a mentor for Adebayo and developed a close friendship with Adebayo during their six seasons as Heat teammates. “That’s not easy to say because being an undrafted kid from Miami, I’m very prideful of the things that I’ve been able to accomplish. But being that it’s Bam, for me that’s almost like a nephew or a son in some ways breaking my record. So for me, it’s going to be a lot of emotions, but all good things. I love to see people’s hard work pay off.”
So, will watching Adebayo become the Heat’s all-time leading rebounder one day be bittersweet for Haslem?
“The bitter part, not really,” Haslem said. “Like I said, I’m very prideful. But it’s Bam. He’s somebody I’ve taken a liking to and I’ve created a relationship with outside of the game of basketball. I know his mom, I know his family. We spend a lot of time together just talking about life and the kind of man that he wants to be and the kind of man that I think he can be and should be, along with the basketball player that I think he’s capable of being. So for me, it would be one thing if it was somebody who I didn’t have a relationship with. But it’s almost like a nephew or a son or a younger brother. So it will still feel like it’s in the family. He’s cut from the same cloth as me.”
Haslem already has his No. 40 jersey retired by the Heat. Adebayo, who took over as Heat captain when Haslem retired, is also on a path that could result in a Heat jersey retirement ceremony down the road.
Adebayo, who is in his eighth NBA season and is under contract with the Heat through the 2028-29 season when he will be 31 years old, is producing at a pace that would make him one of the greatest Heat players ever if he spends all or most of his career with the organization.
Along with already establishing himself as the Heat’s all-time leader for double-doubles and putting himself in position to soon become the Heat’s all-time leading rebounder, Adebayo is also on track to finish among the Heat’s all-time career leaders in categories like two-point field goals made, free throws made, assists, steals, points and others.
But the next big step for Adebayo to be considered a Heat great is to win his first NBA championship. Adebayo has already helped lead the Heat to three Eastern Conference finals appearances and two NBA Finals appearances during his career, but he has not been able to win an NBA title yet.
“You definitely got to win one and that’s what I’m always going to challenge Bam to do is to lead his team to a championship and bring that ring back home,” Haslem said when asked if Adebayo could end up as one of the best Heat players ever. “But he’s right there. He’s right on the cusp of being on the Mount Rushmore of Heat players. The only thing he needs to do is cross the championship bridge. I know it keeps him up at night and I know he’s working on that. That’s the goal. These individual accolades, I’m sure he appreciates it and it’s fun for us to go back and forth and have barbershop talk about. But ultimately, he wants to be a champion.”
With Adebayo getting closer to becoming the Heat’s all-time leading rebounder, Haslem is already pushing rookie Kel’el Ware to go after Adebayo’s eventual team rebounding record.
“I’m already priming the pump because I already told Kel’el: ‘Now you go break his record,’” Haslem said. “This is how it goes. So I already told Kel’el and Bam hasn’t even broken my record yet. But I told Kel’el: ‘You need to break his record.’ Because I know Bam is going to break it and now you’re the next man up.”
Miami Herald
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Anthony Chiang covers the Miami Heat for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and was born and raised in Miami.