Looks like the Heat will be without Bam Adebayo for a while.
On December 1, the Heat announced that Adebayo had torn the UCL in his right thumb during the team’s loss to the Nuggets, adding that he would undergo surgery.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Bam Adebayo tore the posterior Ulnar ACL in his right thumb during Monday’s game against Denver and will undergo surgery later this week.
His return schedule will be provided after surgery.
– Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 1, 2021
Adebayo has appeared in 18 games this season. In 32.9 minutes, he averaged 18.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game while 51.9% shot from the field.
What’s next for Adebayo? Here’s everything we know about his injury and the latest news on when he could return to court.
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What is Bam Adebayo’s injury?
Adebayo has torn the right Ulnar ligament (UCL) in his right thumb.
Here’s the play in which Adebayo appears to have been traumatized:
This is the play in Heat-Nuggets where Bam Adebayo injures his right thumb. He went up to pass and high-fived Jeff Green. You can see him clasping his hand after that. Then he entered the fourth round with his right hand. pic.twitter.com/KSWhm4JgBk
– Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg) December 1, 2021
How long will Bam Adebayo stay?
The Heat have announced that Adebayo’s return schedule will be provided after he undergoes surgery, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that he is expected to be away for four to six weeks.
Source ESPN: Estimated timeline for Bam Adebayo’s return to Miami with looming thumb surgery: 4-6 weeks.
– Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 1, 2021
According to Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothing, the average time missed for in-season surgery to repair a torn UCL is 26 games or about seven weeks.
Re: Bam Adebayo: The average time lost to in-season surgery to repair a torn UCL in the thumb was 26 games (~7 weeks). Chris Paul and Marcus Smart returned the fastest, with 39 days (14 games) and 44 days (15 games) missing, respectively.
– Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) December 1, 2021
Adebayo has appeared in 18 of 21 possible games so far this season. He missed the first three games of the season because of a knee injury. Dewayne Dedmon started taking his place in those games.
After the loss to the Nuggets, the Heat sat in third place on the Eastern Conference standings with a 13-8 record.
Warm up the upcoming schedule 2021-22
| Day | Protest | Time (ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, December 1 | compared to Cleveland | 7:30 PM ONLY |
| Friday, December 3 | in Indiana | 7:00 pm |
| Saturday, December 4 | at Milwaukee | 20:00 |
| Monday, December 6 | compared to Memphis | 7:30 PM ONLY |
| Wednesday, December 8 | compared to Milwaukee | 7:30 PM ONLY |
| Saturday, December 11 | compared to Chicago | 20:00 |
| Monday, December 13 | in Cleveland | 7:00 pm |
| Wednesday, December 15 | in Philadelphia | 7:00 pm |
