₦airaland Forum

Bam Adebayo is American, born in Newark, New Jersey, on July 18, 1997. He plays for the USA Basketball team and represented the United States in the Olympics. He is of mixed heritage, with an African American mother and a Nigerian Yoruba father.

Key details about his background

Birthplace: Newark, New Jersey.

Nationality: American.

Heritage: Nigerian (father) and African American (mother).

Association: He has embraced his Nigerian heritage later in life.

Early life, family and education

Adebayo was born on July 18, 1997, in Newark, New Jersey, to a Nigerian Yoruba father, John Adebayo, and an African American mother, Marilyn Blount. As a child, he was given the nickname "Bam Bam" by his mother when, while watching The Flintstones at age one, he flipped over a coffee table in a manner similar to the show's character Bamm-Bamm Rubble.

Adebayo moved with his mother to North Carolina when he was seven. He had little further interaction with his father, who died in 2020 in Nigeria. Adebayo grew up resenting his last name and Nigerian heritage due to the distance from his father. He started to learn more about his Nigerian background at the age of 16 and has since embraced his heritage.

https://x.com/i/status/2031584976257335444

83 POINTS FOR BAM ADEBAYO.

THE SECOND-MOST EVER.

Wilt: 100
Bam: 83
Kobe: 81 pic.twitter.com/5AxI6j8m35

— NBA (@NBA) March 11, 2026

BAM ADEBAYO TONIGHT:

83 POINTS
9 REBOUNDS
3 ASSISTS
2 BLOCKS
2 STEALS pic.twitter.com/uXfkaCYEYn

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 11, 2026

Kelvin Durant reacts

"I couldn't believe it when I was hearing it in real time. ... Congrats to Bam."

KD's reaction to Bam Adebayo scoring 83 points ❤️ pic.twitter.com/b3syWVjTzr

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 11, 2026

"It's Wilt, me, then Kobe. Which sounds crazy." 🤣

Bam Adebayo put his name with legends tonight after scoring 83 PTS 🔥 pic.twitter.com/CEQMg52m5s

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 11, 2026

BAM ADEBAYO: "To have 83 the first game she's here is very special... the behind-the-scenes, the workouts, the conversations, they're very motivating, and obviously you see what she does... you get inspired by that. I'm thankful to have her in my life."

A'JA WILSON: "I see the… pic.twitter.com/MfrMoSTqjq

— NBA (@NBA) March 11, 2026

Bam Adebayo 83 PTS, 9 REBS, 3 ASTS, 2 STLS, 2 BLKS, 7/22 3PT, 36/43 FT on 20/43 FG vs Wizards

2nd highest scoring game of all time https://t.co/nEfvL6SSaA pic.twitter.com/0SL4areTP0

— NBA Performances (@NBARewinds) March 11, 2026

The US is the best place to develop your talent reason why the Iranian female basketball team are all seeking asylum in the united States

He isn't Nigerian, stop claiming people your country didn't do anything for because they carry relatable names

I love how the reporter reported this news.
.

Congrats femi bam

It's not easy. Wish he had broken the record though

joromii:
He isn't Nigerian, stop claiming people your country didn't do anything for because they carry relatable names

he embraced his Nigerian/Yoruba root.

That guy iz an energy beast. Excellent form.

I watched that game and couldn't believe it. The crowd nearly went on fire.

Seems A'ja's helped him out.

Even lost weight.

if he was caught with a gun or drugs he would have been tagged AMERICAN BORN NIGERIAN.

ribbit:
he embraced his Nigerian/Yoruba root.

Anybody can embrace anything, he's only being celebrated cause he made it, Nigeria loves to claim people after they've made it

Just dey observe NFF and Ethan Nwaneri. They haven't done anything for that boy o. But after small thing. They say he should come and play for Nigeria. Did we develop him?

You are a Nigerian femi.

And I am proud of you

joromii:
He isn't Nigerian, stop claiming people your country didn't do anything for because they carry relatable names

Don’t mind us jare, we have to famz by force to cover up our own failures.

anonimi:
David Hundeyin
May 4, 2022


I want to sell a script to a Hollywood studio. The story is about a guy who owns a farm that constantly runs at a loss but never quite shuts down.

The farm is massive and underutilised, and the protagonist has all the opportunities in the world to improve its output and get a bumper harvest.

He has access to credit, machinery, free irrigation and gifts from neighbouring farmers, but all he ever does with these things is drink and smoke them away while his family suffers.

Nigeria has refused to grow up and achieve something, but it somehow feels as if it is living vicariously through the achievements of its estranged children around the world

Apart from drinking, smoking and generally being utterly useless, his other pastime is to pump out children at an industrial rate. Needless to say, he takes no care of his children whatsoever, and many of them fail to survive childhood.

Those who do survive have to leave the farm and hire themselves out as hired labour to the neighbouring farmers, having picked up some survival skills from home.

With time, a number of them rise through the ranks and become senior managers, directors and even shareholders in these other farms while their father continues mismanaging his farm.

When good news about some of these successful children gets home, their father is filled with pride and joy, but when they end up on the wrong side of life, he acts as if he never knew them.

The successful ones make efforts to revamp their childhood home by sending back money and volunteering their skills and time, but all this guy ever wants to do is be a 62-year-old underachieving idiot carried through life by charity and luck.

Famzing” diaspora success is dishonest
I’m sure before the end of the second paragraph, you figured out whose story I was telling. The 62-year story of post-independence Nigeria — which the Hollywood studio would surely reject for being too sad with no redemption — is that of our fictional antihero.

Nigeria has refused to grow up and achieve something, but it somehow feels as if it is living vicariously through the achievements of its estranged children around the world.

Remember how everyone from corporate brands to Abike Dabiri made a big song and dance about supporting Anthony Joshua the “Nigerian,” whose only chance to become someone in life came when his parents emigrated from Nigeria?

Remember how things turned when he somehow lost against that chubby Mexican dude whose name I can’t remember? Remember when the Super Falcons won the female AFCON title and received a congratulatory tweet from the president, only for them to have to stage a protest before being paid their camp allowances?

That’s what we do in Nigeria. We try to live vicariously through the achievements of people who have achieved great things under their own steam, simply because said people happen to be called ‘Ifeoma,’ ‘Efe’ and ‘Ayotunde.’

Even when Nigeria had absolutely nothing to do with said success, or in fact happened in spite of Nigeria, as with Divine Oduduru, we bask in the reflected glory of their personal achievements.

Sometimes when those people wear a Nigerian flag or post something about Wizkid or Jollof Rice on Instagram, we go crazy with the Nigerian flag emojis because oh my god, they identify with us!

This is not about being a Killjoy
Somehow, the complete failure of Nigeria and our complicity in its failure is more bearable when we point at Nigerian immigrants doing great things in life and say “I knew Femi before he started calling himself Anthony.

His father and I were classmates in Aiyetoro.” It is unclear how exactly this helps our situation but hey, it’s also unclear how chugging the amount of alcohol we do helps either.

Escapism is a key part of our culture, and anyone who dissents must be a non-Jollof-eating, vegetarian heretic, and possibly also an atheist.

Now while all this is painfully cringey to my eyes, some will also point out that Nigeria is not the only country that has a weird obsession with its diaspora population.

Even ‘first-world’ countries like Ireland continue to have deep emotional and economic connections to their diaspora, and in any case Nigerians proudly supporting Anthony Joshua or the NBA’s Giannis Ante…African-sounding-name is basically harmless fun. They’re not hurting anyone. Why be such a killjoy, David?

The reason this matters can be found in a quote that has been dubiously attributed to Russian President Vladmir Putin, where he describes Africa as the place where its diaspora does not invest in, but returns to only to die and be buried with their ancestors.

While there is no concrete evidence that Mr. Putin ever actually made that comment, the truth in it is painfully poignant.

For diaspora success to be meaningful to Nigeria, it must correlate to on-ground results in Nigeria. The example of Somalia shows that having a well-educated, globally successful diaspora while being an absolute basket case are both possible at the same time.

I’d imagine we do not aspire to be Somalia.

I first think say na Femi Adebayo of Nollywood movie, them come say he get point for NBA.... I was thinking Nigerian Bar Association, cos Femi himself studied law.

donleo92:
You are a Nigerian femi.

And I am proud of you

What did you contribute to his success to be proud of him

Freshandfitpod:
The US is the best place to develop your talent reason why the Iranian female basketball team are all seeking asylum in the united States

Do not let inferiority complex and low self esteem destroy you.

Excellence is a universal language and what you have is enough if you can work extremely hard at developing and positioning it.

US is one of the worst places to raise a child. American kids, especially blacks, have a greater chance of being killed in mass shootings or ending in jail than you have in most countries in the world. That is why US ended up with a president like Mr. Trump. Epstein files was in their face yet they chose him over a clean black woman, Kamala Harris.

Comgratulations to our own Femi Adebayọ.
Ọmọrebiyan

Wilt 100 nawaooo...
Wetin come be the total points for the team...
Abi na him score all of them almost.

joromii:
Anybody can embrace anything, he's only being celebrated cause he made it, Nigeria loves to claim people after they've made it

Just dey observe NFF and Ethan Nwaneri. They haven't done anything for that boy o. But after small thing. They say he should come and play for Nigeria. Did we develop him?

so we should reject him despite the fact he embraced his root? Cos I don't know what you are on about.

And no country embraces failures. It's a world wide thing.


Same way British will remember your root when you commit crime or fraud but Quickly call you British when you do something that makes them proud.

So it's not just a Nigerian thing.

Thought it was jagun jagun

...But I like the way his mess up a couple of days that help got me some millions...
Bam thanks for not doing this that day and congratulations nwanne

SMerchant:
Wilt 100 nawaooo...
Wetin come be the total points for the team...
Abi na him score all of them almost.

It's not all that's scoring point. It's his overall point for the game. Steals, blocks and all.

Modified. It's all scoring points o. E tried well.

Victory and smartness is innate to the descendants of Oduduwa so I am not surprised

alanto:
It's not all that's scoring point. It's his overall point for the game. Steals, blocks and all.

Oh okay that's it then...
I for say

joromii:
He isn't Nigerian, stop claiming people your country didn't do anything for because they carry relatable names

People like you amaze me why would this be peppering you? Why should it bother you at all? Are you normal??

anonimi:
What did you contribute to his success to be proud of him

Are you his father?

Abeg shift one side

No be only contribute, na Ajo

Am proud of him, because he is a Nigerian

Ain't claiming him, but am happy because he is representing my nation on the bigger stage!!!!

Nigeria never claimed the guy o until now that Naira land brought out his identity..Nigerians just generally happy and congratulates him for the great achievement. Rather, the guy, Adebayo of Americam Mother and Nigerian Father has been the one relating and getting to know more about his father's country, his root, just like many foreigners does. One fact is, Nigerian blood always comes home even when abandoned. That Nigerian blood is so magnetically strong that it always seek and search for its root wherever you are even when you don't want to accept the fact that you have Nigeria blood in your vein.

joromii:
He isn't Nigerian, stop claiming people your country didn't do anything for because they carry relatable names

I see you A'ja, my former crush... Supporting your boy

Obi no go congratulate am. Let it be an Igbo man o

Both are lovers, in fact in a relationship.....

Flangelo12:
Seems A'ja's helped him out.

Even lost weight.

SmartyPants:
People like you amaze me why would this be peppering you? Why should it bother you at all? Are you normal??

Pepper me? How daft can you be?

Mathewrichard99:
Both are lovers, in fact in a relationship.....

That's common knowledge.

I'm saying he looks trim and his game has improved.

This is very good and that's what Nigeria spirit is all about and my Yoruba brothers thanks for making us proud with this Femi....


Congratulations