Heat center Bam Adebayo criticizes officiating after 134-121 loss to Celtics

Following the Miami Heat’s 134-121 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, Bam Adebayo called the officiating “unprofessional” for being ejected after receiving two technical fouls.

At the end of the fourth quarter, Adebayo was issued a pair of technicals with 24 seconds left. The first technical was called by referee Tony Brothers and the second by official Nick Buchert.

Per multiple NBA betting sites, the Heat have the 13th-best odds to win the championship in 2023. A few sportsbooks show better odds for the Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers.

#Heat’s Bam Adebayo’s calls officiating decorum ‘unprofessional’ in wake of ejection vs. #Celtics #NBA https://t.co/WbaAnRK5eU pic.twitter.com/Ud3lWpuski

— Sun Sentinel Sports (@Sentinel_Sports) December 1, 2022

“I mean, me personally, I don’t really get bent out of shape about fouls,” Adebayo said after the loss at TD Garden. “My biggest thing is like, my mom taught me ever since I was younger, if somebody’s talking to you, you look at them dead in the eyes.

“I feel like that’s unprofessional when players come to try come talk to you and you don’t look at them and, you know, acknowledge them. I feel like that has to be addressed. And that’s conversations we don’t get to see, we don’t get to hear when they go in their corners. I feel like they should be put on the podium and have to explain certain situations throughout the game.”

Bam Adebayo blasts officials after getting ejected late in the fourth quarter of the Heat’s 134-121 loss to Celtics

Adebayo and Max Strus led the Heat in scoring with 23 points. In 39 minutes of action, the sixth-year center also contributed six rebounds, five assists, and two steals against the Celtics.

Furthermore, due to a sore right knee, the Heat were without Jimmy Butler for a seventh consecutive game. Strus’ five three-pointers kept Miami in the game for a bit.

Through 20 starts this season, Adebayo is averaging 20.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.1 blocks. In addition to amassing nine double-doubles, the All-Star is shooting 53% from the field as well.

Tony Brothers just ejected Bam Adebayo.

There's 24 seconds left in the game.

Lol.

— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) December 1, 2022

The three-time NBA All-Defensive member is logging career highs of 3.2 turnovers and 3.5 personal fouls per game. Offensively, he’s posting career-best numbers offensively. But Adebayo has to keep his cool during crunch time.

Needless to say, the Heat cannot afford to lose another player. They are 10-12 and rank 10th overall in the Eastern Conference standings. Getting ejected should be the last thing on his mind at the end of games.

Of course, the Miami center is not the first NBA player this week to question the officiating. Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry disagreed with the officials when they called a travel on him late in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s 116-113 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

The refs called traveling 10 times throughout that Warriors-Mavs matchup alone. After the loss, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, “If we’re going to call that now, we’ve got to call it all the time.”