Bam Adebayo embarked on his first Olympic Journey with Team USA in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were pushed back to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The squad was led by Kevin Durant, one of the greatest players in Team USA History, and Damian Lillard, among others. Adebayo started in all six games, averaging 6.3 points, a team-most 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks on 57.1 percent shooting and 58.6 percent true shooting. He helped lead Team USA to their fourth straight Olympic Gold over Rudy Gobert, Nando de Colo and a well-respected French squad, 87-82.
Now, Team USA will have LeBron James back at the helm for the first time since 2012. They will also have Durant, Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry–partaking in his first career Olympics–Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards and Kawhi Leonard, among others. Adebayo spoke about that difference on Tuesday.
“It’s a little different,” Adebayo told reporters Tuesday. “It’s one of those things where you have so much talent, man. You gotta somehow figure out how to be a chameleon and kinda kinda mix in and, and find your niche.”
It’s unclear whether or not Adebayo will get the starting nod, though he will still be one of the most important big men alongside Embiid and Davis.
“This isn’t about who can go get 30 (points),” he said. “We’re all the No. 1, No. 2 options on our team.
“So just being able to really go out here and just make the main thing, the main thing–which is winning. You figure out little things you can do that contribute to that. … It’s on us to, you know, play the right way, do the little things and uh compete at the highest level.”
We will get a better feel for what his role might be in the coming weeks. Team USA will have five exhibitions, beginning on Wednesday against Team Canada at 10:30 p.m. EST in Las Vegas, Nev. The four ensuing exhibitions will be against Australia, Serbia, South Sudan and Germany before Group play begins on July 28 against Serbia.
Team USA has not won five straight Olympic gold medals since it won six straight from 1948-1968. Adebayo will certainly have a “niche” instead of being a top option, but if everyone else can excel in their roles, there’s no reason why they can’t secure their 17th-ever Olympic gold.
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