Team USA basketball player Bam Adebayo joins GQ Sports to reveal his 10 Essentials. The Miami Heat center breaks down his daily essentials: from his Olympic gold medal (“the real one is in a safe… you can get away with it until they test it”) to his North Carolina chain (“if you know basketball, this is the hoop state”). Watch the full episode of GQ Sports’ 10 Essentials, as NBA star Bam Adebayo reveals 10 things he can’t live without.
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00:00What's up GQ, this is Bam out of Bio
00:02and these are my essentials.
00:11My first essential is my North Carolina chain.
00:15Just because I was raised in North Carolina.
00:18Originally born in New Jersey,
00:20but raised in North Carolina.
00:22And I lived out of a single wide trailer,
00:24right there where that star is.
00:26My mom was a single parent,
00:28so it was always me and her.
00:29And this is kind of a reminder of where I come from.
00:33If you know basketball, this is the hoop state.
00:35So being able to represent my state,
00:37it's just great for me.
00:39So it's kind of home is always with me.
00:41It's funny because I was actually afraid
00:43to spend money on it because in my mind,
00:46I just never wanted to go broke.
00:49But I've been wearing this for probably five years now.
00:54I mean, it still shines a little bit.
01:00This is my next essential, my Olympic gold medal.
01:03I mean, obviously it speaks for itself.
01:06It's definitely fake.
01:08The real one is in a safe.
01:10If somebody wants to steal it, it's probably like $20.
01:13You can get away with it until they test it.
01:17We won this in Tokyo 2020, where there was still COVID.
01:23You know, we had no fans.
01:25For us, it was a lot of, you know, doing nothing.
01:28Just sitting there.
01:29That was probably one of the closest teams
01:30just because we literally couldn't go see anything else.
01:33So it was literally just us in the hotel.
01:36But being in Tokyo, you had no fans.
01:39So it was kind of like we had to generate our own energy.
01:42You know, I'm glad we came on top this time,
01:44but you know, you only get to go every four years.
01:48You know, people are calling us the Avengers.
01:52I guess that's our team this year,
01:54but you know, for us, it's all business.
01:56You know, we're looking to get another one.
01:58Are you looking forward to just being in France?
02:00Oh yeah, I've never been to Paris.
02:02I'm so excited to go to Paris.
02:04Just for one, just to be able to compete
02:06and actually have fans in the stands.
02:09You know, it's a blessing to be a part of.
02:18This next essential is my dominoes.
02:21They got my logo here.
02:22I carry these all the time
02:24because during the playoffs, I get off social media
02:27and I try to find me something new to pick up.
02:30I've taught a couple of teammates how to play.
02:32It makes a two hour flight go like that.
02:35I play with my chef and my manager,
02:39but also it gets competitive in the house.
02:41So like we do pushups for dominoes.
02:43Well, for losses, a lot of pushups
02:45are happening in my household.
02:47Matter of fact, a lot of dudes had to do pushups today
02:50before I left, but I haven't done a lot of pushups.
02:55So do they say perfume or say cologne?
02:58But in some regions of the world, they say perfume.
03:01In Europe, it's kind of all just perfume.
03:03See, okay, there you go.
03:05Cause I got this in London,
03:06but this is cologne in the States.
03:09I was just randomly walking through some of the stores
03:12and this lady was like,
03:13hey, you want to try on our scents?
03:15And I found this one.
03:16So now it doesn't leave my side.
03:19It's Givenchy.
03:20It's one of those good street perfumes.
03:22It's Givenchy.
03:23It's one of those good smelling stuff
03:25where I feel like you put it on, it turns heads.
03:31All right, let me see.
03:34So I would say masculine enough for men,
03:39but I feel like a woman could also wear it,
03:43but it smells phenomenal.
03:44And it's Givenchy, the expensive stuff.
03:49I can't throw this at you.
03:53All right.
03:59This is my lunchbox.
04:00I bought it off Amazon.
04:01So if you would like to buy it,
04:02it is on Amazon for like probably $6.
04:06But I carry it through home games just because,
04:09one, it's my pregame meal in it.
04:12But two, it's more like a symbol of going to work,
04:16lunch pill, hard hat.
04:17I switch them throughout the year.
04:19And this year has been Pac-Man.
04:20And also my mom is a fan of Pac-Woman.
04:24Ms. Pac-Woman, sorry.
04:26Ms. Pac-Woman, sorry to disrespect you.
04:28My mom's a great fan of you.
04:30Don't know why, but every time when I was little,
04:34my mom used to take me to the arcade
04:35and that's what we played.
04:37So behind the scenes to the Pac-Man lunchbox.
04:44These are my Uggs.
04:46I got into wearing Uggs around my second year in the league.
04:51I really wanted to wear something cozy
04:52besides Walmart bedroom shoes in the house.
04:55My teammate told me they were a good in-house shoe.
04:58So now I wear them and I can't take them off.
05:01I would have wore them today, but that's not professional.
05:09This is my next essential, which is body wash whey.
05:13I just really like the way this smells.
05:15When you get in the bed, you know, you cuddle up,
05:18you kind of smell it.
05:19It's one of those, it's not too strong,
05:21but it's also not too feminine.
05:23It's one of those things
05:24where I always have to take it with me
05:25just because I want a certain smell all the time.
05:28So when you're on the road,
05:29you're not using the hotel body wash?
05:31No, I can't do that.
05:33For me, I can't use it because after I use it,
05:36I look gray because I'm not ashy.
05:38This gives me more of a shiny look
05:41until I put on the lotion.
05:44My next essential is this book, Chop Wood, Carry Water.
05:52It has different lessons in it, but it just teaches you,
05:54I mean, not only to get through life,
05:56but you know how life isn't fair.
05:58It gives you real scenarios about this kid
06:01who's going on a journey for his little brother
06:03that passed away, trying to be a, basically a back belt,
06:07but it teaches you different scenarios that he goes through.
06:10And the legendary saying of wax on, wax off,
06:14this is kind of Chop Wood, Carry Water.
06:17How does that mentality of Chop Wood, Carry Water
06:19help you throughout the grind of a season?
06:22You can't forget the basics.
06:24That's the big thing about the book.
06:26You can't skip steps.
06:28That's why I carry this book with me.
06:30Sometimes I'll just read it again
06:32just to see if I find a different lesson in it.
06:34I should hit the mic.
06:41This is my next essential, Olipop.
06:44I don't really like to drink soda.
06:46So this is like a substitute for it.
06:48I feel like the best kind of this is root beer.
06:51I like it, it's good for digestive health
06:53and four grams of sugar in it compared to another can
06:56of soda that I probably have like 28.
06:58So it's healthy for me.
07:00Tastes better than all the other ones for me,
07:02not slighting any other probiotic.
07:05I drink it in probably lunchtime.
07:08It helps me go use the bathroom.
07:15This is my do-rag.
07:17For those people who know,
07:18a lot of African-American men wear this so they have waves.
07:21We can't just wake up and do this and be ready to go.
07:25Some of us have to brush our hair,
07:27but this just keeps your hair in like a great pattern.
07:30It's kind of like a man's bonnet.
07:33I've been wearing it so long
07:35that I can't go to sleep without it at this point.
07:38I've lost it one time and cried
07:41because this is like my favorite do-rag.
07:43I probably might have 20 different do-rags,
07:46you know, different designs, different colorways,
07:48but this is just my favorite one
07:50because I feel like it has a different feel
07:52than all the other ones.
07:53And I feel like this one is really molded to my skull
07:56because I've worn it so long.
07:57So this is my favorite one.
08:01Thank you guys for checking out my 10 essentials.
08:03I will see y'all in the Olympics.