Miami Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo will undergo surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb, the team announced Wednesday.
Sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski that Adebayo is expected to be out for four to six weeks, which would cause him to miss between 15 to 20 games.
"Can't do anything about it,'' Adebayo said of the surgery, which will take place Sunday. "It was my only option."
Adebayo, 24, has blossomed into one of the NBA's best two-way centers, able to switch out onto virtually any guard defensively while also being a hub of Miami's offensive attack. Through 18 games this season, Adebayo is averaging 18.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
He suffered the injury during Monday's loss to the Denver Nuggets. The Heat lost again Wednesday night, 111-85 to the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers.
Veteran Dewayne Dedmon stepped into Adebayo's place in the starting lineup against the Cavs, scoring 11 points in 31 minutes. Miami is still down another big, forward Markieff Morris, as he's been out since early November after injuring his neck in a loss in Denver.
"Bam is one of the most dynamic, unique players in the league," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "There's not going to be one solution for that. It's going to take some unique solutions and some thought and we'll figure it out. There's going to be some things we have to do differently. There's no way that we can make it look the same. He's an absolute hybrid on both ends of the court, one of the most unique players in the entire association."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
