Bam Adebayo knows what it’s like to grow up with very little. He’s determined to help kids who are facing similar predicaments.

And the NBA has noticed his work.

The Miami Heat star — who had an 83-point game this season, the second highest-scoring game in NBA history — was honored Friday night with the league’s Social Justice Champion award. Adebayo will receive the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy, and the NBA will make a $100,000 charitable donation on his behalf.

“It’s not something I look to do or want to do for attention,” Adebayo said Friday night in a video conference. “It’s something I do because I really want to help people. I’ve always said this: I never had anybody in my community that would come in and make impact. And my mom’s always been one of those people who’s always giving back, so I’m just carrying that torch.”

The award, the NBA said, “honors a current NBA player for pursuing social justice and … for advancing Abdul-Jabbar’s life mission to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically disadvantaged.”

Bam Adebayo’s foundation has raised thousands for underserved communities 

The Bam Adebayo Foundation invested more than $563,000 across 18 initiatives this season, all promoting either educational equity, food security or youth development in underserved communities across South Florida and his native North Carolina.

Among the highlights of his work:

— He provided mattresses, uniforms and school supplies for students at The SEED School of Miami.

— Funded transportation for more than 19,000 students to attend the Miami Book Fair.

— Addressed food insecurity through holiday meal distributions.

— Hosted a holiday toy drive serving more than 2,000 children, and the leftover toys — which covered the playing court at the Heat’s home Kaseya Center — were then shared with other organizations.

— Supported youth development programs.

— Renovated a basketball court at Camillus House Homeless Shelter.

The other finalists for the award this season were San Antonio’s Harrison Barnes, Boston’s Jaylen Brown, Detroit’s Tobias Harris and Cleveland’s Larry Nance Jr.

Adebayo is the sixth recipient, joining Jrue Holiday (2025), Karl-Anthony Towns (2024), Stephen Curry (2023), Reggie Bullock (2022) and Carmelo Anthony (2021).

“I’m the first one in Heat history to get it,” said Adebayo, Miami’s captain. “It feels good to be the first at something in franchise history — but it just shows the work that I put into the community.”

The award was decided by a committee that includes Abdul-Jabbar, Tatum, Realize The Dream co-founders Martin Luther King III and Arndrea Waters King, GirlTREK Co-Founder and President Vanessa Garrison, National Museum of African American History & Culture Acting Director Shanita Brackett, Civic Nation CEO Kyle Lierman, NBA President of Social Responsibility & Player Programs Kathy Behrens, National Basketball Players Association Foundation Executive Director Erika Swilley and youth representative Cayden Daughtry from the Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA Court of Leaders.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

The sister of a high-ranking Cuban official is now in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after she was arrested in Miami on Thursday, the latest move in an escalating pressure campaign against Cuba’s ruling party and its leaders.

A photo released by ICE Homeland Security Investigations shows Adys Lastres Morera being taken away in Miami, with HSI calling her “a deportable lawful permanent resident whose presence poses a threat to the United States and undermines American foreign policy interests.”

Her sister, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, is the executive president of GAESA, a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces.

“They have a private military company named Gaesa who’s sitting on $18 billion of assets, and not a penny of that transfers over to the state budget. Not a penny of that goes over to help the people of Cuba. Not one cent,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Gaesa is a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, and it’s even more powerful than the island’s communist party.

GAESA controls hotels, gas stations, supermarkets, currency exchange, marinas, real estate and many more entities on the island.

U.S. officials estimate that GAESA, which is a private company, controls 40% or more of Cuba’s economy.

“GAESA wields such immense power that the Cuban government, the government led by Miguel Díaz-Canel, Manuel Marrero, and others, must ask GAESA for the resources needed to manage the country. And GAESA provides them if it so chooses,” said investigative journalist Mario Penton of Marti Noticias, who focuses on covering Cuba.

In March, Marti Noticias published a report detailing Adys Lastres Morera’s alleged association with investment companies.

“Something that strikes us as particularly noteworthy is that Adys Lastres Morera arrived in the United States in 2023, having been petitioned by her son, U.S. citizen Ernesto Carvajal Lastres,” Penton said. “And immediately thereafter, her name appeared associated as a manager at Santa Elena Investments and Remas Investments, companies dedicated to real estate investments in Florida.”

Penton said shortly after his report became public, everything related to those real estate investment companies was wiped from the internet.

Rubio said he terminated Adys Lastres Morera’s permanent resident status, posting to X, “There will be nowhere on this earth, much less in our country – where foreign nationals who threaten our national security can live lavishly.”

Adys Lastres Morera’s son said over the phone Thursday that he’s in crisis mode, trying to figure out where his mom is and why she was detained.

“I am not entirely clear on how Marco Rubio can have the authority to revoke residency without going through a court process,” he said.

Adys Lastres Morera’s son said he’s a U.S. citizen and has been living in the U.S. for 12 years. He’s currently looking for an attorney who can take his mother’s case.