Bam Adebayo says fellow big man Nikola Jokic is the NBA’s most unguardable player

Bam Adebayo is considered one of the best players in the NBA and is definitely one of the hardest athletes to guard in professional basketball. However, even he recognizes a fellow center is even more difficult to defend than him.

In last season’s playoffs, the Heat were dominating ever single team in the Eastern Conference and got all the way to the NBA Finals. Nevertheless, Miami didn’t stand a chance against Denver in the last stage, as Nikola Jokic governed that series.

In a recent interview on “The OGs” podcast with former Heat players Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem, the South Beach big man revealed the reasons why he considers the Serbian superstar to be the hardest player to guard in the NBA.

Bam Adebayo says Nikola Jokic is the hardest player to defend in the NBA

“The thing that I most like about him is like he don’t flop…he not tryna get 16-17 free throws”

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Miller asked Adebayo, “Who’s the toughest dude in the league to guard right now?” To which Adebayo replied: “Gotta be big fella, the Serbian.”

The recently retired Haslem, who also played in last season’s Finals, contributed to the conversation.  “Man, that (expletive) is unreal, bro. I gotta take my glasses off to that guy…he don’t jump, he don’t run fast, you can’t speed him up, you can’t move him like I don’t know,” he said.

“But then the thing that I am most like about him is like he don’t flop, and I ain’t saying, like you know, guys try to sell calls, but other than that, he not trying to get 16-17 free throws,” Adebayo added. “No, he trying to get buckets.”

The two-time MVP was on fire during last year’s Finals series, as he averaged 30.2 points while shooting on 58.3%, 14 rebounds and 7.2 assists.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr recently called the NBA’s officiating “disgusting” after a game against the Nuggets, where Jokic was constantly protected by the referees and got the chance to shoot 18 free throws.

“The players are really smart in this league. For over the last decade or so, they’ve gotten smarter and smarter. And we have enabled the players, and they are taking full advantage. It’s a parade to the free-throw line, and it was disgusting to watch,” the coach said.

Denver’s Jamal Murray defends teammate against those who say that Jokic thrives on foul calls

Even though most players like Adebayo are certain that the Serbian center is the toughest player to defend in the NBA, others believe he is only unguardable because he thrives on foul calls.

“[Jokic] does a great job, man. You see his arms everywhere? Those are fouls,” teammate Jamal Murray said. “I think he gets beat up down there, kind of similar to like how Dwight Howard used to. Such a big body, it’s hard to call every foul, I understand, but when he’s going into his shooting motion at least, they can only do so much and [Jokic] can only do so much.”

The Warriors and Nuggets clashed on Christmas Day and sparked a controversial topic: free throws. Nikola shot 18 free throws during the contest which prompted a reaction from coach Steve Kerr to go on a post-game rant about the league’s officiating.

“[Jokic] can only do so much, so I think we got to just keep feeding him and [Jokic has] to continue to be aggressive,” Jamal insisted. “That’s another thing, not looking for the foul, but just playing the game and getting to his spots. Stuff like that.”