Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat argues a call with referee Mousa Dagher #28 during the second quarter at Rocket Arena on March 27, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Jason Miller
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With the Miami Heat facing the very real possibility of needing to qualify for the playoffs through the NBA’s play-in tournament for the fourth straight season, it’s not a surprise that Heat center Bam Adebayo is frustrated.
But what has caught the attention of some is that Adebayo has publicly voiced his frustration recently.
“I don’t want to be in that s— no more,” Adebayo said of the play-in tournament after a Heat road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Feb. 26. “We’re better than being in the play-in for the last four years.”
Then after a home loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, Adebayo again expressed his frustration about the Heat’s place in the Eastern Conference standings.
“I don’t want to be in the f—— play-in,” Adebayo said following Monday’s defeat. “So every game, I’m going to try to go out there and do the best I can to carry this team and force our way out of that.”
Adebayo, 28, wants to win and he’s frustrated that the Heat isn’t winning enough.
The Heat entered Sunday’s matchup against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse as the East’s ninth-place team with a 39-35 record. Miami needs to finish among the East’s top six teams to clinch a playoff spot and avoid the play-in tournament, which features the seventh-through-10th-place teams competing for the final two playoff seeds in each conference.
“Wanting to win,” Adebayo said in recent days when asked where that frustration stems from. “And when you try to do everything possible to get a win and it doesn’t happen, that’s when the frustration builds in. But it’s a part of my growth. It’s a part of the ups and downs of the season. If everybody had the season the way they want it to go, everybody would be a champion at the end of the year. Our path is different, and there’s going to be frustrating moments.”
There have been a lot of frustrating moments for Adebayo lately, as the Heat entered Sunday’s contest in Indianapolis with a 1-6 record over the last seven games. The Heat gave up the most points it has allowed in a game in franchise history in Friday’s 149-128 blowout loss to the Cavaliers in Cleveland.
“You see how fast time goes by,” Adebayo continued, with the Heat returning to Miami after Sunday’s game against the Pacers for Monday night’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers at Kaseya Center (7 p.m., Peacock, NBC Sports Network). “You don’t ever want to look at a moment and regret it at the end of it. So, while you’re here, while you’re able to impact basketball, while you’re able to impact while you’re on the court, go for it. Over-communicate, make sure everybody is in their right position. You never know how that can catapult a team.”
If the Heat’s season ends without a playoff berth for the first time since 2019 or with a first-round playoff exit for the third straight season, Adebayo’s frustration will continue to build.
“It’s obviously known that we don’t want to be in this [play-in tournament],” said Adebayo, who is in his third season as the Heat’s captain. “We don’t want a first-round exit anymore.”
Heat icon Dwyane Wade’s reached a similar point when he delivered a memorable line after the team was eliminated in the first round of the 2010 playoffs.
“This will be my last first-round exit for a while, I’ll tell you that,” Wade said in 2010 after the Heat was eliminated in the first round of the third time in four seasons.
When told about that Wade comment from 2010, Adebayo said this week: “I respect that.”
But there’s one big difference between their situations, as Wade put pressure on the Heat to improve its roster before becoming a free agent a few months later. Wade ended up re-signing with the Heat during a summer that the organization also acquired Chris Bosh and LeBron James in free agency to form the Big 3.
For Adebayo, he signed a maximum extension during the 2024 offseason that keeps him under contract with the Heat through the 2028-29 season.
“I don’t know where that’s coming from,” Adebayo said when told about the recent social media speculation that he should ask to be traded after another middling season for the Heat. “I mean, obviously people see our games, so they have their own opinion. But me, I’m just frustrated because we’re losing games, and I don’t want to be in the play-in.”
Adebayo, 28, has never indicated that he wants the Heat to trade him. In fact, he’s often spoken about how much it would mean to him to spend his entire career with the Heat like his mentor and close friend Udonis Haslem.
Adebayo has also won a lot during his nine-year NBA career with the Heat, but he just has yet to win an NBA title. Adebayo has played in two NBA Finals and three Eastern Conference finals, falling to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 NBA Finals and the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 NBA Finals.
“I feel like that just shows how much respect you have throughout the organization and with the fans,” said Adebayo, who has made three NBA All-Star games and five NBA All-Defensive teams since the Heat drafted him with the 14th overall pick in 2017. “When you see one person as long as UD or me or even D-Wade, you grow with your community. So from that standpoint, man, you look at that and you cherish that.”
Plus, living in Miami is always nice.
“I’m pretty sure everybody loves living in a no-tax state and the weather,” Adebayo said with a smile.
Powell out
After initially being listed as questionable for Sunday’s matchup against the Pacers due to back spasms, Heat guard Norman Powell has been downgraded to out for the contest because of an upper respiratory illness.
Sunday marks the ninth game that Powell has missed in the last 15 games. During this 15-game stretch, he was held out of seven straight games due to a right groin strain and also missed one game with left calf tightness before sitting out Sunday’s game with an illness.
The Heat also remains without Vlad Goldin (G League), Trevor Keels (G League), Terry Rozier (not with team) and Jahmir Young (G League) against the Pacers.
This story was originally published March 29, 2026 at 8:59 AM.
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Anthony Chiang covers the Miami Heat for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and was born and raised in Miami.