After Donovan Mitchell, Bam Adebayo’s Reunion With Damian Lillard at WNBA Game Sparks Fans’ Outrage Over Illegal Act

While the NBA tournament is approaching its final stage, the WNBA regular season has just begun. It was recently Nevada’s chance to shine as it hosted the recent matchup between the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty. While prepping for the upcoming Olympics tournament, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo took some time out of his busy schedule to make an appearance at the women’s basketball game. While LeBron James and his wife Savannah were sitting a few seats away from him, there was one NBA player who was right on the Heat star’s ear: Damian Lillard. This made some fans worried whether something foul was afoot.

Adebayo and Lillard’s presence was highlighted by the official Instagram account of Overtime. For the person handling the social media account, a clip featuring the duo engaging in conversation during the game provided the perfect opportunity to spread some ‘gossip’. The caption put out alongside the post read “Whole lotta tampering going on at the Liberty/Aces game rn (side eye emoji) I’m jk lmaooo”.

Through this remark, the fan may have attempted to jokingly convince his peers that Bam Adebayo may have been looking to recruit Lillard into the Miami Heat. Such speculation would be justified since this rumor has been a prominent topic of conversation amongst fans for quite some time now. It all began back in April when Damian Lillard took to Instagram to publish a post featuring both him and Adebayo in training gear. With no caption accompanying the same, it became the role of the people to decide what the picture meant. Given that Adebayo has been with the Heat ever since he has been a part of the NBA, he was surely not the one who was looking to make a change.

Fans react to Bam Adebayo-Damian Lillard’s off-season reunion

Once the post started making the rounds of Instagram, it didn’t take long for people to drop into the comments section to share their reactions. One of them highlighted Bam Adebayo’s continuing alleged process of trying to recruit the players of his choice to the Miami Heat. He wrote, “Somebody Finna get hit with racketeering charges (racketeering charges)”.

Damian Lillard isn’t the first individual who fans believe has been the target of the 3x NBA All-Star’s alleged recruitment drive. Almost a month ago, an individual took to X to send a message to Adebayo that read “Bring Mitch to Miami & I’ll give you my PS5”. This was a reference to Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell, who came into the NBA at the same time as his Heat rival. To Adebayo’s credit, he responded to this fan statement. He put out a GIF of renowned actor and comedian Will Ferrell looking out and rubbing his chin to indicate a ‘thinking’ gesture. No sooner was this response out when several fans descended to make ‘tampering’ allegations. Knowing that a team could be fined over $10 million in light of this illegal act, some fans even threatened to tell NBA Commissioner Adam Silver about what this NBA player was attempting to do.

One commenter proceeded to add fuel to the speculation by stating “miami looking good rn”. With this, he has shown his support for a potential team-up between Lillard and Adebayo.

Despite being longtime rivals, the duo share a bond based on mutual respect. A primary example of the same was seen back in February when Lillard was asked to name his dream starting lineup. The player proceeded to name Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Steph Curry, and himself on the list. Anyone who may have been expecting the fifth person to be Lillard’s teammate and Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was left disappointed, as he picked Adebayo.

Another fan proceeded to state that there was nothing afoul going on. By writing “they USA team bonding”, he highlighted his belief that the conversation may be dealing with a different aspect of the future.

Damian Lillard will not be accompanying Bam Adebayo to Paris to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, LeBron James, who was also present along the same row as the Heat player, sure will be. LeBron James has represented his country in the Olympics on three separate occasions (2004, 2008, and 2012) and has won gold in two of them. Adebayo himself was a member of the Team USA roster that brought him the Gold Medal during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. With LeBron turning 40 by the end of the year, there is a good chance that the upcoming tournament may end up being the last time that basketball fans see the All-Time NBA scorer play on the international stage.

One fan did not think that a trade would involve Damian Lillard. Instead, by writing “Lebron to Miami confirmed”, she indicated that Adebayo may be after the other star player. After having served six years with the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James’ contract is set to come to an end. If the player does not choose to extend his contract with the franchise, then he will enter free agency. Through this, he can be approached by any team that has the capital to acquire the player. And if LeBron would head to another team, then what better is there than the team with whom he had won two NBA championships?

Overall, the reactions were mixed in nature. Some believed that Adebayo was looking to poach Lillard, while others had their theories.

Before leaving, be sure to check out some insights that Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, shared about WNBA star rookies Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark.