CHICAGO — The breakout season for former UK basketball star Bam Adebayo took another leap on Saturday night.
Adebayo won the NBA All-Star skills challenge, beating out seven other players, including fellow former Wildcat Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The big man is a first-time All-Star and had the longest betting odds (+1200) to win the event.
Adebayo is the second former Wildcat to win the skills challenge. Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns took home the title in 2016.
The third-year Miami Heat forward has shined as an emerging NBA star this season. He's averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists per game while shooting 58 percent from the field. Adebayo became the first Heat player to win the competition since Dwyane Wade in 2007.
The 22-year-old leads the Heat in total rebounds, defensive rebounds, offensive rebounds, blocks, minutes, double-doubles, triple-doubles, double-figure scoring games and double-figure rebounding games. He is the youngest player in franchise history to record a triple-double while being just the fourth player in team history to post at least three triple-doubles in a season.
He's made a major jump in playing time too, averaging about 35 minutes per game after averaging 23 last year and just 20 in his first season.
Miami drafted Adebayo in the first round with the 14th overall pick back in 2017. He played one year at Kentucky, leading the team in rebounds and blocks while being the only Wildcat to start all 38 games of the 2016-2017 season. Adebayo was an All-SEC second-team selection by both the league's coaches and the Associated Press.
The NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday night. It starts at 8 p.m. and can be seen on TNT.
