The decision to omit Bam Adebayo from the United States World Cup roster was surprising at the time and has grown in controversy as he's had an All-Star caliber 19-20 season.

USA Basketball officials suggested that this version of Adebayo wasn't on display during camp.

Adebayo admitted that losing out on a roster spot to Brook Lopez and Miles Plumlee left him with a “bigger chip on my shoulder.”

“Obviously no man wants to get cut, so I take it personally,” Adebayo told Marc Stein Of The New York Times. “But it’s behind me now.”

Yet Adebayo insisted that “it’s not the reason why I’ve been doing what I’m doing.”