It’s a ‘no-brainer’ to Heat’s Bam Adebayo: ‘I think I’m the Defensive Player of the Year’
The NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award is one of the more complicated honors to vote for. Measuring defense can be tricky, and there are many factors to consider.
But Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo believes this year’s pick is simple. He considers himself to be the Defensive Player of the Year this season.
“I’m going to sound like Isiah Thomas, but I fit the criteria,” Adebayo said to the Miami Herald, referring to Thomas’ comment in “The Last Dance” documentary. ”We got the No. 1 seed, we got a top-five defense. On top of that, I’ve played enough games for it. If you watch what I do on the defensive end, it should be a no-brainer.”
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Adebayo, 24, has a strong case for the award, with votes for the honor due next week.
The Heat clinched the top playoff seed in the Eastern Conference on Thursday night, entering Friday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks at FTX Arena with the fourth-best defensive rating in the NBA. Adebayo has been a driving force behind that success.
The Heat has allowed just 104.8 points per 100 possessions with Adebayo on the court this season, a defensive rating that would rank first among NBA teams. The difference between the Heat’s defense when Adebayo is off the court and on is 6.3 points per 100, tied for ninth-best in the league among those who have played 1,500 minutes, according to Cleaning the Glass.
“I literally guard one through five,” Adebayo said. “So that means I can guard the center, I can guard the power forward, I can guard the wings and the point guard. There are a lot of dudes that can’t do that. So that’s why I think I’m the Defensive Player of the Year.”
A lot of defensive players earn the award because of their ability to block shots, but it’s that switchability that Adebayo believes sets him apart from the rest.
No NBA player has switched more screens this season than Adebayo’s 17.5 switches per 100 possessions, according to Second Spectrum. That’s a big reason why the Heat switches the second-most screens in the league, behind only the Boston Celtics, at 28.5 switches per 100 possessions this season.
Adebayo isn’t just switching for the sake of it either. He’s doing it because it usually leads to a defensive stop, as the Heat has allowed just 0.9 points per any possession involving an Adebayo switch. For perspective, the NBA’s top defense (the Boston Celtics) is allowing 1.06 points per possession this season.
“Me being the biggest dude on the court says a lot, being able to guard anybody on the court,” Adebayo said. “A lot of people don’t notice it. But every once in awhile, coach will give me the best player. It might not be a big man. It might be a two guard, it might be a wing, it might be a point guard. He gives me those type of assignments and I succeed.”
Among the 22 NBA players who have defended at least 90 isolations this season, Adebayo ranks third with just 0.74 points allowed per each of those possessions.
“My job isn’t to make him go scoreless, but my job is to make every shot tough, every shot difficult,” Adebayo said. “That’s the bottom line on defense. Everybody who I guard, I make their shots difficult. There is no like, ‘Oh, you need to get a block.’ No, I get stops. That’s what defense is.”
Among the top candidates for the award this season are Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr., Phoenix Suns forward Mikal Bridges, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Boston Celtics center Robert Williams III.
Gobert has been named the Defensive Player of the Year in three of the last four seasons because of the elite rim protection he provides. He’s currently averaging at least two blocks for the eighth straight season and will again receive many votes for the award.
Why has the honor historically gone to rim-protecting bigs?
“Because it’s a stat,” said Adebayo, who is averaging just 0.8 blocks this season because he usually makes his impact felt while switching on the edges of the perimeter. “That’s why I think a lot of guys get more love because it’s a stat. But if we get stops, if we track stops, I’ll be at the top of the league. They go by blocks and steals, they don’t go by if a dude doesn’t get past you and shoots [a bad shot] and he misses. The average eye isn’t going to see that.”
Alonzo Mourning is the only Heat player in franchise history to win the Defensive Player of the Year award, earning it in back-to-back seasons in 1998-99 and 1999-00. Adebayo believes he should become the second player to join that very short list.
“We want him to be the head of our defense, the back of the defense and everything in between and he accepts all those responsibilities,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s why he’s in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year. You have to be able to do a lot of different things and anchor a great defense if you want to be considered in that running, and I think that’s what Bam has done all year long.”
This story was originally published April 8, 2022 at 11:15 AM.
