Leonard also discusses missing his wife and declaring himself the beer-chugging champion of the NBA bubble
Monday 20 July 2020 13:13, UK
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo deserves to win this season's Most Improved Player award but promises so much more, said team-mate Meyers Leonard.
Third-year center Adebayo was named an All-Star for the first time in February after posting career-best averages in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals per game and helping the Heat to a 41-24 record prior to the NBA suspending play on March 11.
Leonard, speaking to reporters via video conference during Heat media availability inside the NBA bubble on Sunday, gave an emphatic response when asked to define what the Most Improved Award should be.
"There is one answer. It's Bam (Adebayo). That's what (Most Improved) is," he said.
"You are talking about a young player who is developing into a superstar right in front of our eyes. When I was in Portland, I was wondering 'what is he capable of?' To be completely truthful - and I have said this to Bam before - I thought he was an incredibly athletic player, gifted on the defensive end who could finish around the rim.
"We all now know that is the truth but there is so much more. It blows my mind how talented he is and how far he has come in this season alone. He handles the ball, his court vision is incredible, his rebounding... everything Bam does. And he has that next-level mentality on both ends of the floor that enables him to excel and helps our team.
"I think back to the block he made him Milwaukee, for example. The fact that he chased down (Eric Bledsoe), read the play and went and got (the block), that won us the game.
"Most improved can go a lot of different ways but I think winning has a lot to do with it, in my opinion, as does playing on both sides of the ball. Bam is so impactful that, to me, he is the Most Improved player and thoroughly deserving of winning the award.
The 27-year-old Leonard, who spent his first seven NBA seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers before moving to the Heat last summer, was in bullish mood about the Heat's aspirations when the 2019-20 season resumes on July 30.
"There has always been a certain standard around here but with this team this year. it was clear we can win ball games. We competed, we were unselfish and we did what we needed to do. Then at the (February trade) deadline, we added three very good pieces in Solo (Solomon Hill), Dre (Andre Iguodala) and Jae (Crowder)," he said.
"You tell me, what are we missing, truly? I mean that. Now, we have work to do. Our defense has to be sharp, we have to continue to share the ball and we are going to put the ball in the bucket. Overall, we have to continue to improve our game and get to a championship level.
"I think we have an immense amount of talent but it is going to take day by day, scrimmage by scrimmage and then those eight (seeding) games to really get us focused and understanding what our version of championship basketball looks like. And we are willing to do that because we have guys that are unselfish who want to win."
Leonard admitted adapting to life at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex off-court had not been straightforward.
"It is a weird feeling. I am going to miss my wife and I's anniversary on August 2. I love her dearly and I am used to spending quite a bit of time with her. Once we get to two, three, four weeks, it's the first time we have been apart like that since our relationship (started). It is very different for me," he said.
"I talk about 'embrace the suck' - being in this bubble, committing to the team, and doing whatever it takes to lock in and be there every day. I have woken up a couple of mornings and really had to force myself to focus and understand the task at hand.
"There is something about being able to deal ambiguity and dealing with the randomness around us, whether that be testing times being changed, or wives not being here. Whatever it might be, I have had to really focus and lock in. It has been tough. 'UD' (Udonis Haslem) and I had a quick conversation like 'I really miss my wife' and I said 'you're telling me'. It's like a piece of you is missing but you have to lock in and do your job. That's what I am here to do."
Leonard has found one welcome distraction inside the bubble: chugging and shotgunning beer. After New Orleans Pelicans veteran sharpshooter JJ Redick started the fad by responding to a challenge posed on the @nbabubblelife Twitter account, Leonard entered the fray with emphatic results.
"When they call you 'The Hammer' and when you come from the sticks... people just can't hang (with me)! That's all there is to it," Leonard said of his bubble antics.
"When someone asks you 'what is your hidden talent?', I've got to say mine might be chugging beer. I mean, people just can't touch me, brother! It's not close. Shotguns? Chugs? It's too easy! Get 'em out of here!"
