PORTLAND, Ore. — On the court, the play has been uneven of late. In the community, the work has been consistent — and now rewarded.

Heat center Bam Adebayo on Wednesday was named the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award winner for December, receiving the David Robinson trophy.

The honor, jointly announced by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association, cited Adebayo for his leadership in hosting his annual holiday toy drive and offering experiences for underserved youth through his foundation.

In honor of the award, the NBA and the NBPA Foundation will donate $20,000 to the Edrice Adebayo Foundation. Adebayo becomes the sixth player over the Heat’s 38 seasons to receive the honor, with Dwyane Wade, the Heat’s most recent previous recipient in March 2018, honored four times; Alonzo Mourning receiving it twice; and Lamar Odom, Shaquille O’Neal and Daequan Cook once each.

Last month, Adebayo welcomed nearly 2,300 students from underserved communities to the Kaseya Center for his annual toy drive, with more than 36,000 toys distributed and remaining gifts donated to local organizations across South Florida.

Further, Adebayo flew in eight student-athletes from near his North Carolina hometown and their chaperones for an exclusive game-day weekend that included a panel with Heat players.

Also, Adebayo organized a special outreach for five student-athletes facing significant hardships, flying them to Miami for a Heat game, where they met coach Erik Spoelstra and Heat president Pat Riley.

“We go big in December,” Adebayo said. “but the mission of my foundation is bigger than one moment on the calendar.”

The NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award honors NBA legend and Hall of Fame center the late Bob Lanier, an NBA executive and NBA Cares Ambassador for more than 30 years.

As for Adebayo’s on-court efforts, the pendulum was back swinging in a positive direction in Tuesday night’s 130-117 victory over the Sacramento Kings, on the second stop of the Heat’s five-game western swing.

Adebayo closed the victory with a game-high 25 points, including 4-of-5 shooting on 3-pointers. That came a night after Adebayo shot 1 of 13 from the field, including 0 for 5 on 3-pointers, in Monday night’s 135-112 loss to the Golden State Warriors at the start of the trip.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he was confident Adebayo would bounce back.

“It’s just to lean into being the competitor that he is,” Spoelstra said. “There’s going to be some games where you miss shots, but he has this great versatility that is so uncommon that he can impact the game, however his offense is going.”

With second-year Kel’el Ware out Tuesday night with hamstring tightness, his first absence of the season, and with fourth-year Nikola Jovic again uneven, this time 3 of 11 against the Kings, Adebayo’s Tuesday night effort practically was essential from the power rotation.

“He was decisive on his catches, and shot the ball great,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo’s play against the Kings, with the Heat next moving on to Thursday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center. “He had some great catch-and-go drives.

“But he was also anchoring a lot of the physicality and the stuff on the other end defensively. So it was a complete game from him.”

Warm embrace 2.0

A night after Heat forward Andrew Wiggins returned against a former team and received a warm embrace at the Heat’s loss to the Warriors, guard Davion Mitchell on Tuesday night drew rousing support during the introductions in Sacramento.

It was Mitchell’s first road game with the Heat against the team that selected him at No. 9 in the 2021 NBA draft.

“It was an amazing three years, ups and downs, and the fans still show love. And even when I’m not on the team, they show love. So just a lot of love,” said Mitchell, who was sent by the Kings to the Toronto Raptors in June 2024 and then moved on to the Heat from Toronto in last February’s Jimmy Butler trade.

Mitchell, who closed Tuesday night with six points and seven assists, said he was especially appreciative of Kings coach Doug Christie, who was an assistant during Mitchell’s Sacramento tenure.

“He was kind of in my ear the whole time I was here, going through those ups and downs, and being that mentor for me,” Mitchell said. “Doug’s a really good coach, a really good guy.”