How What Happened In Vegas Changed Gabe Vincent’s Heat Trajectory

MIAMI — Initially, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo wasn’t fully sure what to make of Gabe Vincent. Granted, the two already had spent three months quarantined together at Disney World in the NBA’s pandemic bubble at the end of the 2019-20 season. And, granted, Vincent’s first full NBA season had included 50 games on a two-way contract as Adebayo’s teammate in 2020-21. But it was at a game that didn’t count that ultimately counted most for Adebayo when it came to counting character. That came in Las Vegas, on July 10, 2021, as part of Olympic preparation for Adebayo and Team USA. That night, Vincent and fellow Heat teammates at the time KZ Okpala and Precious Achiuwa were the opposition on Nigeria’s national team, in the type of exhibition that tends to devolve into a thanks-for-the-sparring-session walkover. Only it wasn’t.