Heat’s Adebayo earns two significant honors on an eventful Friday night
Heat center Bam Adebayo doesn’t believe he gets the recognition he deserves on the defensive end. But he received some recognition on Friday.
Adebayo was selected to the NBA’s All-Defensive Team for the sixth time in his NBA career; he finished eighth in a poll of 100 media members, which placed him on the All-Defensive Second Team.
“It’s great to be back on the list,” Adebayo said in a video conference with several reporters on Friday night, a year after being snubbed for the first and second All Defense teams. “I feel I do First Team things, but we take what we can get. It’s good to be recognized for all the hard work I put in.”
Adebayo also received recognition from the league on Friday for his community work, as he was named the winner of the 2026 NBA Social Justice Champion award. Adebayo was one of five finalists for the honor, along with Harrison Barnes of the San Antonio Spurs, Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, Tobias Harris of the Detroit Pistons and Larry Nance Jr. of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The NBA Social Justice Champion award honors a current NBA player “for pursuing social justice.” The league says Adebayo will receive the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar trophy “for advancing Abdul-Jabbar’s life mission to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically disadvantaged.”
As the winner, Adebayo will receive a $100,000 donation from the NBA for a non-profit organization of his choosing.
“I’m the first one in Heat history to get it,” he said. “Feels good to be the first at something in franchise history. It shows the amount of work I’ve put into the community. I don’t expect awards for it. The award itself was seeing all those people have their lives changed. That’s the award.”
Adebayo was cited by the league for his commitment to educational equity, food security and youth development in underserved communities across South Florida and North Carolina. Among his contributions:
▪ Through the Bam Adebayo Foundation, he led 18 social justice-focused initiatives during the 2025-26 season, investing more than $563,000 into programs designed to expand access and opportunity for underserved youth and families.
▪ 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 and hosted experiences designed to expose students to new opportunities and mentorship.
▪ He addressed food insecurity through large-scale holiday meal distributions, hosted an annual toy drive serving more than 2,000 children, and continued to support youth development programs including his Bam Basketball Camp and the Liberty City Warriors program. He said the toy drive was particularly joyful for him, watching children build “mountains of toys.”
▪ He donated a renovated Heat-themed basketball court at Camillus House Homeless Shelter to create a permanent space for recreation and wellness for residents in the community.
As for Adebayo’s other honor, he has now been named to an All-Defensive team in six of the last seven seasons. He was named to the All-Defensive Second Team in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2026, and was named to the All-Defensive First Team in 2024.
Adebayo is the only player in franchise history to make one of the league’s All-Defensive teams in six different seasons while with the Heat.
Adebayo, who just completed his ninth NBA season, finished eighth in the voting, behind the five members of the first All Defensive Team, as well as Toronto’s Scottie Barnes and Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace, who were on the second team with Adebayo.
Among the 100 media members who voted, Adebayo was named to the first team on 10 ballots and to the second team on 51 ballots. There were 39 ballots submitted without Adebayo named to the first or second team. The NBA releases names of the voters, and how they voted, after all its awards are announced.
A total of 10 players regardless of position made the All-Defensive first and second teams regardless of position. There is no third team for All Defense.
The All-Defensive First Team includes San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama (who received first-team votes from all 100 voters), OKC’s Chet Holmgren (who received 93 first-team votes), Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert, Detroit’s Ausar Thompson and Boston’s Derrick White.
The All-Defensive Second Team features Adebayo, Barnes, Wallace, the Knicks’ OG Anunody and Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels.
Adebayo was the only Heat player among 25 players who received votes for the first and second team. The three players who just missed out on first- or second-team All Defense honors were the Spurs’ Stephon Castle, Houston’s Amen Thompson and Golden State’s Draymond Green.
Adebayo, who turns 29 on July 18, has established himself as one of the NBA’s best and most versatile defenders at 6-foot-9 and 255 pounds. Not only has he proven he can effectively guard every position on the court, but he also possesses a unique versatility to toggle between different defensive schemes from possession to possession and game to game.
Adebayo finished this past season in the NBA’s 96th percentile for estimated defensive plus-minus (estimated impact on defense per 100 possessions) this season.
The Heat allowed 3.2 fewer points per 100 possessions when Adebayo was on the court compared to when he wasn’t on the court this season.
Adebayo made an All-Defensive team this year despite a dismal finish to the season for the Heat’s defense. The Heat had the NBA’s fourth-ranked defensive rating (allowing 111.3 points per 100 possessions) on March 12, but posted the league’s 28th-ranked defensive rating (allowing 124.6 points per 100 possessions) over the final 15 games of the regular season.
This rough finish led the Heat to close this past regular season with the NBA’s 14th-ranked defensive rating. It marked the first time that Miami has finished a season outside the top 10 in defensive rating since the 2019-20 season.
Adebayo averaged 20.1 points, 10 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game this past season. He became just the third player in Heat history to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game during a season, joining Alonzo Mourning (1995-96 and 1998-99 seasons) and Shaquille O’Neal (2004-05 season).
He also made history March 6 against Washington, scoring 83 points in a game, the second highest-total in NBA history.
“It was a great year,” Adebayo said when asked to summarize the past eight months. “The 83 definitely helped [achieve] the 20 and 10 season. There’s still work to be done. I think of how far I’ve come in this league. I have so much more to give in this league and so much more to give to fans.”
Adebayo signed a maximum extension during the 2024 offseason that keeps him under contract with the Heat through the 2028-29 season.
“When you stack up my career,” he said, “it’s not bad for a 14th pick.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 7:50 PM.
