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Meet Bam Adebayo, NBA Star Who’s Changing the Lives of Single Mothers

Edrice Femi “Bam” Adebayo, 26, is a professional basketball player for the Miami Heat. Since joining the Heat, he has helped the team reach the NBA Finals in 2020 and 2023. Adebayo was chosen into the NBA in 2017 and quickly became an All-Star. According to Forbes, the two-time NBA All-Star and Olympic gold champion played for the United States Olympic basketball squad in 2020.

Adebayo is a philanthropist outside of basketball. He founded the Bam, Books & Brotherhood (BBB) charity in 2017 to improve the lives of single mothers like himself. According to Forbes, the charity has assisted over 7,500 families through toy and food drives as well as youth clinics.

The BBB foundation serves as a constant reminder to the NBA player to never forget where he came from and to never lose sight of where he is going. His background and desire to serve others are inextricably linked, beginning with his single mother’s affection.

Adebayo’s NBA career began in a single-parent family in Newark, New Jersey. According to his BBB Foundation page, he got his nickname, Bam, from his mother when he lifted up a coffee table at the age of one during an episode of The Flinstones.

When Adebayo was seven years old, his family relocated to a trailer house in the North Carolina floodplain. His mother, Marilyn, worked as a cashier at a meat farm at the time, while Bam discovered a passion for basketball.

Adebayo was crowned North Carolina Mr. Basketball in 2016 after transferring to High Point Christian Academy as a senior. He later committed to the University of Kentucky before getting chosen in 2017. The Miami Heat drafted him 14th overall.

Indeed, Adebayo overcame adversity to reach the NBA and has since regarded his mother as his biggest role model, in both her ideals and her sacrifices, according to his foundation’s website.

The foundation’s mission is to help and enrich the communities that have given so generously to his life. His initiatives, events, and unique fundraising tactics will enable other ‘at-risk’ youngsters to excel while building the values and ties within and between families, according to the website.

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