Stan Van Gundy Says Bam Adebayo Is Overrated. Adebayo Scored 83 Points in a Game Seven Months Ago.
Stan Van Gundy went on The Zach Lowe Show on Wednesday and wrote off the Giannis-era Heat before they have played a game. The line that traveled was about Bam Adebayo.
“I think Bam is a little overrated, particularly at the offensive end of the floor,” the former Heat coach and current NBA analyst said.
In March, Adebayo scored 83 points in a game. That is the second-highest single-game total in NBA history.
The 83 is not a small detail
On March 10 at Kaseya Center, Miami beat Washington 150-129 and Adebayo went 20-of-43 from the field, 7-of-22 from three and 36-of-43 from the free throw line. The free throws made and attempted are both NBA single-game records. The 83 points passed Kobe Bryant’s 81 and trail only Wilt Chamberlain’s 100. He broke the Heat franchise record, which had been LeBron James’s 61.
In fairness, that game was contentious. Wizards coach Brian Keefe called the fourth quarter not a real basketball game. Miami intentionally fouled to stop the clock, Washington fouled other Heat players to keep the ball away from Adebayo, and ESPN’s Tim MacMahon publicly questioned the whole performance. Adebayo deflected by pointing at the coaching decision to let him play one-on-one.
So you can discount the 83 if you want. You cannot call a player overrated offensively seven months later without acknowledging it, and Van Gundy did not.
The rest of his case is stronger
Adebayo’s actual 2025-26 line: 73 games, all starts, 20.1 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 steals in 32.4 minutes, shooting 44.2 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from three. He is a three-time All-Star, a 2024 All-Defensive First Team selection, a five-time All-Defensive Second Team pick including this year, and a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
That is a very good player whose value is overwhelmingly defensive, and 44.2 percent shooting from a center is not efficient. Van Gundy saying he is overrated specifically on offense is a reasonable take, delivered carelessly.
His broader Heat argument is the better one. He said he is not as high on Miami as the consensus, that “the shooting that they added compromises them badly at the defensive end of the floor,” and that he would be surprised if Miami finished in the East’s top six. He is not convinced Davion Mitchell can start at point guard next to Giannis.
The durability point is the one that should worry Miami
Van Gundy questioned Giannis Antetokounmpo’s health directly: “this guy’s broken down badly over the last few years.”
The number behind it is real. Antetokounmpo played a career-low 36 games in 2025-26 with calf and knee injuries. He is 31 and averaged 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists in that final Bucks season, in which Milwaukee went 32-50 and missed the playoffs.
Miami acquired him and Bobby Portis from Milwaukee in July, then added Tim Hardaway Jr., Klay Thompson and Nick Richards. Erik Spoelstra is still the coach. The Heat open Oct. 21 at home against Minnesota after a fourth straight play-in appearance.
“I’m not sold on them,” Van Gundy concluded.
Fine. He coached the Heat from 2003 to 2005 and is best remembered in Miami for a Game 7 loss to Detroit, which Heat fans will be reminding him of all week. On the shooting-versus-defense trade-off he is probably right. On Adebayo being overrated on offense, he picked the one player in the league with an 83-point game to make the argument about.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
