Heat's Bam Adebayo causes crooked rim, temporarily delays NBA Finals Game 4 with dunk attempt

Dec 31, 2023

It wasn't a full "Bam Slam," but Heat center Bam Adebayo certainly rocked the rim in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

In the third quarter of Friday night's contest between Miami and Denver, Adebayo caught a pass from Caleb Martin on the left block. Nuggets guard Christian Braun attempted to switch off Adebayo, but Nikola Jokic wasn't ready to rotate behind him.

That gave Adebayo an opening for a baseline drive and dunk. Unfortunately for the Heat, he missed the two-handed jam and committed a goaltending violation because he was hanging on the rim while the ball was in the cylinder.

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Multiple players then noticed that the rim appeared to be slightly askew. Jokic even attempted to fix the issue himself, but the Kaseya Center crew had to bring out a ladder in order to make sure that the rim returned to the correct position.

After a brief delay, Denver and Miami players took the floor, and Game 4 continued.

At the end of the third quarter, the Nuggets held a 13-point lead over the Heat.