In wake of Embiid’s commitment, Adebayo addresses Team USA possibility for Paris Olympics

Even after Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid reportedly committed to Team USA for the Paris Olympics this week, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo is still expected to be on the national team’s roster.

Following the Heat’s training camp practice on Thursday at Florida Atlantic University, Adebayo told reporters he has already received an invite from Team USA to be on the roster for next summer’s Olympics. Adebayo hopes, if healthy, to again represent his home country in Paris after winning a gold medal with Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics in his first experience with the national team in the summer of 2021.

Heat Check podcast: Revisiting a tough week for Heat and early training camp takeaways

“At the end of the season, we’ll worry about that,” said Adebayo, who opted for rest this offseason over playing for Team USA in the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who is a Team USA assistant coach under national team head coach Steve Kerr, is looking forward to having Adebayo on the roster again next summer.

“I think it’s awesome for Bam,” Spoelstra said. “I think it’s continuing to help establish him as one of the ultimate winners in this league. He was one of the most impactful players in USA Basketball, and we understand why. I don’t even know what his stats were in the Olympics. But in talking to everybody at Team USA, they felt like he was a must for that roster because of everything he does on both ends of the court and because he’s such a winner.

“And then quietly, I don’t know why it’s so quiet, but he’s becoming one of the ultimate winners in this league, particularly for somebody his age. There aren’t many guys his age that have won as many playoff games and hopefully we can just get to that next step. But he’s doing everything in his power to get us there.”

Adebayo, 26, is entering his seventh NBA season. He’s still looking for his first NBA championship, but has already made two NBA Finals appearances.

Of Team USA’s addition of Embiid, Adebayo said: “We’re looking stacked then.”

Embiid became a U.S. citizen last year and could have also chosen to play for France or Cameroon.

ROTATION TALK

Thursday only marked the Heat’s third day of training camp, so it’s still way too early for Spoelstra to decide on a rotation. But Spoelstra has already noticed “we’re deeper than we were last year.”

“What will my rotation be? I have no idea at this point,” Spoelstra said following Thursday’s practice. “It’s highly competitive. I think we’re deeper than we were last year, so guys are fighting and competing. We’re not really talking about the rotation or that kind of thing yet. I have some time, not a lot of time. But we’ll figure it out. We’ll figure it out for Day 1 and have a rotation, and I’ll be ready to adjust as necessary throughout the course of the year.”

The Heat closes training camp at FAU on Saturday before returning to Miami to take part in the “Red, White & Pink Game” intrasquad scrimmage on Monday at Kaseya Center. The Heat opens its five-game preseason schedule on Tuesday against the Charlotte Hornets at Kaseya Center.

SUMMER FALLOUT

Even with a chunk of the Heat’s roster involved in trade rumors this summer amid the team’s failed pursuit of superstar guard Damian Lillard, Spoelstra doesn’t believe he needs to address that speculation with players ahead of this regular season.

“It is noise,” Spoelstra said this week. “I know I’ve used that word a lot. But I can relate to the guys who have gone through that. I think it’s good for players to go through that at some point in their careers, I do. Because you have to learn how to compartmentalize and 90 percent of it is usually just BS and noise. But it is a business, we all have to be reminded that it’s a business and you have to find a comfort level within the chaos. It takes a discipline to be able to focus on the task at hand.

“Pat [Riley] uses this phrase all the time and it is so true, ‘Keep the main thing the main thing.’ It is so true. You keep the main thing the main thing, you focus on the task at hand. We have a beautiful amazing opportunity as a group to compete for a title. That is the main thing.”