Bam Adebayo

Edrice Femi "Bam" Adebayo (born July 18, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats before being selected by the Heat with the 14th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft. He was named an NBA All-Star and voted to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team during the 2019–20 season. He also won a gold medal on the 2020 U.S. Olympic team in Tokyo. Adebayo was born in Newark, New Jersey to a Nigerian Yoruba father and an African-American mother. As a child, he 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 moved with his mother to North Carolina when he was seven years old. He attended Northside High School in Pinetown, North Carolina where, as a junior, he averaged 32.2 points and 21 rebounds a game. During the summer, Adebayo joined his Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team, Team Loaded North Carolina, alongside fellow five-star 2016 recruit Dennis Smith Jr. He averaged 15.0 points and 10 rebounds per game on Adidas Uprising Circuit. Later that summer Adebayo competed at the NBPA Top 100 Camp and was named MVP at the 2015 Under Armour Elite 24 game. After his junior season at Northside he transferred to High Point Christian Academy in High Point, North Carolina. In his season debut, Adebayo scored 22 points and 17 rebounds in an 81–39 win over New Garden Friends School. On December 29, he posted 26 points and 14 rebounds in a 91–63 victory over De'Aaron Fox and Cypress Lakes High School. As a senior, Adebayo averaged 18.9 points per game, 13.0 rebounds per game, 1.4 blocks per game and 1.5 assist per game, and led the Cougars to a NCISAA state championship appearance. Adebayo was named 2016 North Carolina Mr. Basketball. In January 2016, he played in the 2016 McDonald's All-American Game and Jordan Brand Classic.