But he comes by it honestly. “Where I’m from, in the middle of the country, there were no clubs or parties. You had to make your own fun. [You were limited to] sitting in the house or going outside,” Adebayo explains. He typically chose the first option while waiting for his single mother, Marilyn Blount, to come home from an all-day shift at the Acre Station Meat Farm in Little Washington, N.C., where she earned $12,000 a year as a cashier. “My mom and I would just kind of hang out at the house, and now that’s all I want to do,” he says.
His rented Miami digs, on the 48th floor of a downtown high-rise, are a far cry from the single-wide trailer of his youth. He finally has room to breathe; his bachelor pad has all of the necessary space and then some to accommodate his towering 6’9” frame. And because his mother lives in the same building, a mere 43 floors down — and still frequently does his laundry — he really does have all his creature comforts in one place. It’s understandable that he’d be loath to leave.
His rented Miami digs, on the 48th floor of a downtown high-rise, are a far cry from the single-wide trailer of his youth. He finally has room to breathe; his bachelor pad has all of the necessary space and then some to accommodate his towering 6’9” frame. And because his mother lives in the same building, a mere 43 floors down — and still frequently does his laundry — he really does have all his creature comforts in one place. It’s understandable that he’d be loath to leave.
For the record, the newly minted All-Star is far from a recluse. He’s 23; it’s almost his civic duty to indulge in the hedonistic delights that Miami offers. He most certainly isn’t in North Carolina anymore.
For one of the city’s most recognizable and feted residents, it’s likely that just about any and every door is wide open. But that doesn’t mean he has to step behind the curtain. Bam splashes out on a very small scale: a special steak dinner at Prime 112, or, more frequently, a “quality” waffle and mango smoothie at midtown eatery Angelina’s or a “calm situation” at Tap 42.
“[I was raised] to be laid-back,” he explains. “If I have friends in town visiting, we’ll go get dinner, but if I’m just by myself, I’m at the house, watching random TV shows. Right now I’m into this thing on Disney+, Brain Games [an Emmy-nominated show featuring games and experiments designed to mess with your mind]. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s [actually] pretty cool. I’m [also] starting to learn to play chess. I said, ‘I’m going to learn to play chess, because I want to win.’”
NBA, and, yes, an anomaly. Where most young players are flaunting their multimillion-dollar contracts at Joia Beach, KYU, Swan, Papi Steak and Komodo, dropping G’s on flashy cars, bling and expensive timepieces, Adebayo is cut from different cloth. He’s at home, playing mind games and doing crossword puzzles, quietly explaining that his first big purchase after signing with the Heat was a leased Range Rover because it was “too early” for him to commit to anything more expensive.
It would seem that he’s cautious about his newfound wealth, as if someone might snatch it away at any moment, but really, this is who he is: a kid who was raised without, but, now that he has, remains unpretentious. On his nightstand there’s a framed picture of the trailer he grew up in, engraved with the words “Never forget where you came from, and never lose sight of where you are going,” a reminder to stay that way.
But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t parted with some of the $8,900,280 he’s earned from his three-year contract with the Heat. In fact, the best money he ever spent also happens to be his proudest moment. “Growing up, it was just me and my mom. I watched her struggle for 17 years, and when I was 19, I got a chance to pay off all of her debt after two paychecks. That’s a crazy feeling,” he says a bit emotionally, adding, “You think about it in a different way. It’s kind of a thank you, but really it’s more of an ‘I love you and don’t want you to have to worry about anything else.’ It was a milestone. Some guys, when they get drafted, they only think about themselves. They go buy cars and houses. I just wanted to take care of my mom.”
But he also wanted to help others like her — and others like himself, too. In 2017, Adebayo created the BAM Foundation, with the mission of changing the lives of single mothers while also changing the chances, choices and challenges for their children; he was named a Rising Star by Champions for Philanthropy in 2019. He has also, quite significantly, been a champion of the Black Lives Matter movement, ending each game of the 2019-20 season by saying, “Black lives matter, people.”
“[Having this kind of money] means I can do stuff for other people,” he says. “Going back to [my hometown] and giving back to my people, telling the kids they have a chance even when they think they might not, that’s important to me, because I didn’t have a chance at one point in time.”
And though that is clearly no longer the case — he is now a pivotal part of the Miami Heat machine, and, to prove it, has avoided free agency by signing a five-year max extension with elevator clauses that can take the total to a whopping $195 million — fans will never find Adebayo acting different or “better than.” His mother would have his hide. “My mom never let my head get big. When I was younger and playing really well, she would always find something that would bring me back to reality,” he recalls. “There’s nothing wrong with having confidence, but cockiness is different. My mom never wanted me to be a cocky kid, even though I was one of the best players in the area. The greatest life lesson she ever taught me was to stay humble, and I just want to make her proud.”
GOING ONE-ON-ONE WITH THE MIAMI HEAT’S HOTTEST RISING STAR, BAM ADEBAYO
BY LAURA SCHREFFLER
PHOTOGRAPHY NICK GARCIA
STYLING LINA PALACIOS
GROOMING CESAR FERRETTE
SHOT ON LOCATION AT 57 OCEAN
Originally published on Hauteliving.com
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