Bam Adebayo: A Young Player’s Idol

It is not everyday that a 23 year old gets labeled as a 19 year old’s dream player, but in this draft, that seems to be the case.

There’s one name that seems to come up for every big in this draft, when discussing what player they model their game after.

Bam Adebayo.

And it’s clearly not for a skill-set reason, since most of the players who mention his name play nothing like him. Instead, they model his work ethic, and more importantly, his uniqueness.

Adam Simon said in his press conference earlier in the week, Bam is “one of one,” and it’s clear that’s a mutual thought between everybody who has seen him play.

Whenever players in past drafts are asked the question of players they look up to, you usually hear LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and many other top players. But not only are those guys top five players, they’re also veterans who players in the draft have been watching since they were young kids.

So what makes it so interesting when Bam’s name comes up, is that most of these players just began watching him this past season.

Guards in the draft don’t say they want to be like Donovan Mitchell.

Wings in the draft don’t say they want to be like Jayson Tatum.

But for some reason, the star center from the 2017 NBA draft class, seems to have all the young bigs wanting to be like him.

And the best part about it for Bam Adebayo, is that he’s not even close to his ceiling. He’s evolving by the second, while improving in every part of his game little by little.

But ultimately, character matters in this league. And Bam Adebayo has just that, since it’s clear that he is a very likable player and person across the league.

There weren’t many guys shooting from way beyond the three-point line until Steph Curry did it.

There weren’t many big men shooting consistently and efficiently from three until Dirk Nowitzki did it.

And now, there aren’t many bigs who are capable of doing absolutely everything on the basketball court, but Bam Adebayo is paving the way.

And luckily, he has a herd of guys following behind him, which will alter the game of basketball yet again.