MIAMI — In the midst of the drudgery of the NBA preseason Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo found himself amid a whirlwind championship celebration.

Turning the Heat’s three-day break into a cross-country basketball odyssey, Adebayo went from the Heat’s Friday practice at Kaseya Center to Friday night’s Game 4 of the WNBA Finals, making it back to Kaseya Center for Saturday’s practice.

In between, Adebayo got to share in the WNBA championship of girlfriend A’ja Wilson, whose Las Vegas Aces swept the Phoenix Mercury in the best-of-seven series, closing out their title Friday night at the Phoenix Suns’ arena.

Adebayo was captured by ESPN cameras as he completed Friday’s dash from South Florida to Phoenix and then when he embraced Wilson after her third WNBA title in four seasons.

Moments after Wilson scored 31 points in her team’s 97-86 victory to be named the series Most Valuable Player, she embraced Adebayo on the court, with cameras catching her telling him, “Thank you for believing in me, baby.”

Replied Adebayo, “You got it done.”

Following the championship celebration, as he prepared for his overnight return to Miami, Adebayo told the WNBA’s social media, “Super proud of her now. You all don’t see the behind-the-scenes, the ups and the downs. So being able to have these moments with her and share this moment, truly special and truly proud of her.”

It was the second game of the series Adebayo attended, also at last Sunday’s Game 2 in Las Vegas, having traveling from the Heat’s exhibition the night before against the Orlando Magic in Puerto Rico and then making it back to Kaseya Center in time for Monday morning’s shootaround ahead of that night’s exhibition against the visiting Milwaukee Bucks.

Adebayo spoke of his whirlwind after Saturday’s practice.

“An emotional roller coaster.” he said. “Obviously getting here, buying into what we do and focusing on that, but also having to go to see my significant other.”

It was an emotional moment that Adebayo said Saturday still was resonating, considering Wilson’s continued championship success.

“You’re just blessed to be a part of it,” he said. “That’s the thing about shared success, you’re just blessed to be a part of it. You’re blessed to see somebody have that much success, somebody who you start comparing to Bill Russell and you talk about how much of the greatness they have.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said there never was a question about allowing Adebayo to make the trip.”What a special moment that was,” Spoelstra said. “I loved the embrace. I got a little bit choked up on that visual. It’s remarkable that kind of sustained success.”

The dual commitments, Spoelstra said, opened another window into Adebayo.

“He was here for yesterday’s practice and here for today’s practice,” Spoelstra said. “He’s just got such an incredible spirit and that’s to his core, that’s who he is. And that’s to everybody — that’s to A’ja, to his family, to his mom, to everybody — he just has a very genuine heart.”

The two have been linked publicly since each represented Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics, often seen at each others’ games, with Adebayo at times wearing Wilson’s signature sneaker.

In Sept. 2024, Wilson was in Miami when Adebayo received a key to Miami-Dade County for his Olympic gold medal.

Adebayo then traveled to Las Vegas last month to help present Wilson with her 2025 WNBA Most Valuable Player trophy.

Wilson averaged 28.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.0 blocks and one steal in the WNBA Finals.

“You have your Mount Rushmore; she’s alone on Everest,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said afterward. “There’s no one around.”

The Heat resume their preseason schedule Sunday in Orlando, before moving on to a Monday night game against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena.

The Heat complete their preseason schedule Friday against the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, opening their 2025-26 regular season on Oct. 22 in Orlando.

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