Bam Adebayo is one of the most intriguing players in the league, and that is due to his two-way prowess. He’s a capable distributor and scorer on the offensive end, but what makes Bam Adebayo stand out is his defense. He is nimble enough to switch onto perimeter-oriented guards, yet athletic enough as a big man to guard the paint.
Many people have talked about how Bam Adebayo should be a DPOY candidate. After all his defensive versatility is one of his best basketball traits. He is one of the people in the league who can truly guard every position. In a recent Miami Herald article, it was reported that Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has stated that Adebayo is a “unique” defender and claimed that he should be in the DPOY considerations.
I think Bam is one of the most unique defenders in the league,“He can legit guard one through five and that’s not just coach speak, that’s not fan speak, media speak. That’s legit. He can anchor a very reliable defense and he can take on different challenges and he has the IQ to be able to execute multiple schemes where it’s not just the switching scheme that people think that he’s involved with. He’s able to handle more sophisticated things than just that.
“I think he should be considered for [the Defensive Player of the Year award]. But we don’t have a major campaign for that. I think the main point about all these awards, if you win, I think a lot of that stuff gets taken care of. So we gotta handle that first box, we gotta win.
Erik Spoelstra is right on Adebayo’s defensive ability, but he’s also right about the fact that awards come with winning. The Miami Heat have been an inconsistent team this season, and are currently 7th in the Eastern Conference. Perhaps if the Miami Heat go on a winning run, then Bam Adebayo will get his respect and become a candidate for the DPOY award.
