Following the 2023 FIBA WC embarrassment, LeBron James took the ‘Avengers’ initiative. Following him, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and several other stars made themselves available for the 2024 Paris Olympics. While there wasn’t any official name for the team, fans popularly called it ‘The Avengers’ on social media. However, it turned official when King James declared it to the world after winning the gold. Hours later, Bam Adebayo appointed himself as Captain America.
The 6 ‘9 tall star holds the crucial center spot in the Miami Heat roster. In fact, he is the centerpiece of the Florida side alongside Jimmy Butler. However, when it came down to Team USA, Adebayo played the role of a backup center in the second unit. Not that he had an issue with it, but it just reflected the depth of the US roster. The 2x Olympic gold medalist pulled off a decent performance, putting up 6.3 ppg and 5.7 rpg, as he came off the bench.
Despite the nominal role in the roster, Bam Adebayo didn’t hesitate to call himself the Captain America of the US side. Hours after the gold glory, the Heat star took to his IG handle and shared a series of pictures with the caption, “ASSEMBLED,” with a gold medal emoji. The first slide of the post included the iconic scene from the 2019 film Avengers: Endgame. It was the scene when Captain America, played by Chris Evans, says, “Avengers Assemble!” towards the end of the film which left the movie halls across the globe to erupt.
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Most importantly, Adebayo didn’t leave it at that. The second image was Bam himself edited in the Captain America outfit with a Miami Heat logo in the middle. And with this, he subtly picked up his characters in the Avengers unit. Apart from that, he also added pictures from the gold medal game.
If Bam is Captain America, who will LeBron James be?
Even though King James didn’t call himself Captain America of the Team USA Basketball, fans have already called him Captain America of the entire American Olympic team. Notably, the superstar had a new addition to his long list of nicknames, Captain LeMerica. Thanks to the management for deciding LeBron James to be the flag bearer of Team USA. The images of the superstar holding the huge US flag during the opening ceremony on the River Seine went viral on social media. And it eventually fetched him the nickname.
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Is Bam Adebayo the true leader Team USA needs, or is LeBron still the main man?
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Nevertheless, it seems like Bam Adebayo would take that, leaving the superstar to take other superheroes. He indeed has a lot of options to work on, ranging from Iron Man to Hulk. However, on the other hand, Bam Adebayo may as well be Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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After End Game, Steve Rogers A. K. A Captain America passed the mantle to his friend, Sam Wilson A. K. A Falcon. If Adebayo could pull some strings, he could replace Anthony Mackie to play the role. Obviously, this was intended with a light-hearted humor. And of course, Mackie has pulled off several impressive performances as the new Captain America.
Before leaving, do watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where Bulldogs’ Asia Avinger details her experience with Kobe Bryant, her WNBA ROTY picks, and more in the video below.
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Is Bam Adebayo the true leader Team USA needs, or is LeBron still the main man?