Bam Adebayo is going to be one of the front-runners in the race to be crowned the Defensive Player of the Year this season. The title is as up-for-grabs as it has been, with voters’ fatigue plaguing former winners Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert.
Outside Bam, Giannis, and Gobert, players like Mikal Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. are also in the race, with the order in which the players will finish being very open. However, Adebayo has proven his versatility as a defender who can guard all five positions and currently has the best odds at winning the trophy, slightly ahead of Bridges.
Adebayo was in an interview with Ashley Nicole Moss when the reporter asked the leader in the DPOY race about his strategies to guard certain forwards. Adebayo was ready to respond, but even he looked caught off-guard when Moss asked him about the challenge of guarding Julius Randle.
While Randle is a former second-team All-NBA player from last season, Randle has been much worse this season. The Knicks have been eliminated from playoff contention and Randle’s antics in New York have generated many questions around the franchise and him.
The question has some merit, as Randle being a lefty makes him more challenging to guard. However, there are other left-handed players in the NBA that are more of a threat. Does LeBron James ring a bell? Adebayo has a lot of experience guarding LeBron, as they collided in the 2020 NBA Finals where the Lakers beat Adebayo’s Miami Heat.
Randle’s performance this season has brought this question under scrutiny on social media, with plenty of people incredibly confused as to why Randle was used as the example. Either way, Adebayo is a defensive monster and has had defensive highlights on Randle before. Hopefully, Randle can have a better 2022-23 season and Adebayo can have a strong end-season run to solidify his run for DPOY.
