Bam Adebayo has been one of the premier defenders in the NBA in recent years and Miami Heat assistant coach Caron Butler believes he should have won the Defensive Player of the Year award by now. Butler appeared on SiriusXM NBA Radio recently and expressed his disappointment at Adebayo not having won the award.
“When you talk about versatility. When you talk about two-way defender. I mean, it’s a crime that he hasn’t won Defensive Player of the Year,” Butler said. “With just the observation, the eye test. I know statistically you can look at a lot of different things and he’s top five on all that stuff, too.
“But when you come to games and you see what he do and how hard individuals got to work, the calories that are burned to get a shot on Bam,” Butler continued. “From guards, playing one through three to the four-five men, nothing comes easy… He’s just different.”
“You have to get your electrolytes…if you’re going against Bam 🤣”
Miami assistant coach, @RealTuffJuice, on the Heat center’s rare skillset #HeatCulture
@RickKamlaSports | @ADaniels33 pic.twitter.com/UukqUvttc8
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) September 10, 2024
While Adebayo has gotten some recognition for his defense, having made one of the All-Defensive Teams in each of the last five seasons, he has never come close to winning DPOY. The 27-year-old finished third in voting this past season, but only got three first-place votes, compared to 72 for Rudy Gobert, who won the award.
That third-placed finish was actually Adebayo’s best-ever, having finished fourth and fifth twice in the four seasons prior. The voters have clearly regarded him as one of the better defenders in the league but just not the best one.
As for why that may be the case, I can point to multiple reasons. For starters, Adebayo’s raw numbers aren’t exactly eye-popping. This past season, the three-time All-Star averaged 19.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game. Those are good defensive numbers, but they don’t scream DPOY.
The other big reason is that the Heat have never been a truly dominant defensive team with Adebayo. He is a big reason why they’ve been very good on defense, but I don’t believe there was a season where I considered the Heat the clear-cut best defensive team in the NBA.
So, when the numbers don’t catch the eye and the team isn’t exactly the most dominant defensively, you get a case like that of Adebayo’s. I’d argue he is the most versatile defensive big in the NBA with his ability to guard all five positions, but some big factors are working against him when it comes to winning DPOY.
Bam Adebayo Spoke About Being Overlooked For DPOY
Adebayo has expressed his frustrations with never being in serious contention for DPOY, on numerous occasions. After Gobert won the award earlier this year, Adebayo spoke about being overlooked for DPOY.
“A point guard (Marcus Smart) got it over me, a center (Rudy Gobert) got it over me, a power forward (Jaren Jackson Jr.) has gotten it over me. The goalposts move for me, to certain degrees. It’s me and a lot of undrafted dudes, and we still have a top-five defense. These other guys have All-NBA dudes (around them).”
“Some of it is, they don’t really care about us and that’s fine. I think they should pay attention to consistency because being top five DPOY, I think I have the longest streak of All-Defensive teams, so the goalposts move for me.”
Adebayo does deserve more credit for elevating the Heat on the defensive end despite not having too many big names next to him. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that’s ever going to be enough for him to win DPOY.
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