Quotes from Bam Adebayo

That's the thing about basketball - you do good things and you start to get recognition.

It was kind of like an agreement, I guess you can say. It was like, 'Hey, bro, you want to be on Team USA?' And I was like, 'Yeah.' Who would say no to that? It was kind of like, 'Dang, I really get to play for my country. I get to represent and just go out there and have fun.'

I never wanted to have a workout where I was by myself. I always wanted to have somebody to compete against.

It took a toll when I couldn't see my mom as much.

An organization believes in me to where I'm worth $163 million, possibly $200 million. When you put it in that form, the responsibility hits home.

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.

I definitely want to be, long time down the road when my career ends, whenever somebody mentions a top-five center or top-five power forward, they always got to mention my name. That's how I want to be remembered.

I can't dictate how I play because I'm injured. I've got to go out there and still play.

I had to stay in the house a lot because my Mom didn't want to see me on the news. I wasn't a bad child. She just didn't want me in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Imagine if a mob of Black people wanted to go in the White House. Imagine what'd happen. It'd be tear gas. It'd be rubber bullets. It'd be the whole nine yards.

When I was younger, it's like, 'Mom works. Normal adult stuff.' But you mature and start to look at it differently. I watched my mom struggle. She comes home tired. She doesn't want to do anything. As I got older, I started thinking, 'My mom doesn't deserve this.' My whole devotion became to get my mom out of that trailer.

I didn't want to be looked at as a below-the-poverty-line kid. But now I think, that trailer is where I got the ambition. The anger. If we had a better life, I wouldn't be here. That trailer made me.

My mom is a country lady. She wants to be in the trees.

Just looking down the bench and when you're on the court, you start to realize, 'I'm an All-Star.'

Me, growing up, I was a Kobe fan, Kobe fanatic, and just getting, just being able to just wear his shoes, it's my favorite shoe to play in.

I get to represent me and my family, but most importantly the Miami Heat.

The Miami Heat represent the city of Miami.

Every time we go to Sacramento, I go see De'Aaron Fox. Every time he comes to Miami, he comes to the crib. We just kinda kick it and really think about it. 'We are in the NBA right now. This is real.' And we cherish those moments because you never know when your time is up on this earth.

My whole thing when I got in the NBA was I want to win a championship. The mindset hasn't changed.

You can't just be one of those guys where the whole league knows what you are and categorizes you as that and you accept that. I want to be one of those guys who expands his zone. Kind of like what Kawhi did.

Different players play you different ways. Some players might be slow-footed so they got to backup. Some players might push you up. You've got to have a go-to that's a mix for both of them.

I just bring energy, try to put myself in a good mood, because you're not going to get through practice if you're drowsy, don't feel like doing nothing. Then it's going to be a long practice and coach is going to be all over you.

I feel like I'm trying to change basketball; being a center, being able to play both sides of the ball and being able to pass as well as I can, that's a difference-maker on a team, especially at the center spot, so it's respect at all levels.

As I started getting better and I had to go places and meet new people, there were times where you just couldn't keep to yourself. You had to speak to people.