Being named to All Star weekend teams and events matters. To the players who make it, to those who don’t, and to their fans who support them. It’s great exposure, and for the bigger events, it’s a real honor. In this case, the Heat were rooting for their own, for Bam Adebayo not to make an All-Star team — he’s nowhere near that — but to be added to the Rising Stars game, which includes the rookies and sophomores worth watching. Here’s the Palm Beach Post reporting:
For the most part, the Heat brushed off the fact they won’t be represented in this year’s All-Star Game. But when rookie Bam Adebayo’s name was not on the list of players voted into the Rising Stars Challenge, the Heat were surprised.
“That’s crazy. I really didn’t see that coming,” Udonis Haslem said in advance of Thursday’s game against the Kings. “There was no doubt in my mind Bam was definitely going to have a chance to represent the Heat in the rookie game. That’s very unfortunate.
“It’s hard to understand what those things come down to. I don’t know how they pick it. I don’t know if it’s popularity. But the body of work that Bam has put in when [Hassan Whiteside] was out and even with the opportunity he gets when H is in, he’s had a heck of an impact on us and this run that we’ve made. We couldn’t have been able to do it without Bam.”
