NBA
Miami Heat All-Star Bam Adebayo Thinks He’s The Best Defender ‘In The Last Two Seasons’
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated09 Jan 2023
The Miami Heat have had an average start to their 2022-23 season after being one shot away from making the NBA Finals last season. With a 21-20 record the Heat are eighth in the Eastern Conference and are 5-5 in their last ten. One player who has not waivered for Miami this season is one-time all-star Bam Adebayo. He also claims that he is the “best defender” in the league over the last two seasons.
Adebayo doesn’t have three DPOY trophies like Rudy Gobert, but he’s still one of the most dominant and well respected defenders in the NBA. However, he is a three-time all-defensive selection and his dominance has not gone unnoticed. The 25 year old offers a unique skill set that other players his size might not.
Florida Sports Betting sites have the Heat at (+3300) to win the Finals this season.
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 9, 2023
Bam Adebayo thinks he’s the ‘best defender’ in the league
There’s no question that Bam Adebayo is the anchor of the Miami Heat’s defense for the past two-to-three seasons. He’s not the biggest frontcourt player at six-foot nine, but his athleticism is what separates him from the traditional PF/C. On top of his elite defense, Adebayo is also also having a career-best season on the offensive end scoring (21.4) points per game. That leads all Heat players at the moment.
In an interview with Mark Medina of NBA.com, Adebayo had this to say on why he feels that he is the best defender in the league.
““I feel like I’ve been the best defender in the last two seasons. I can guard one through five and I can guard anybody on the court. In past seasons, that’s how I got on the court. Defense is how I got to where I am today. That’s never going to be away. I’m always going to have the mindset of wanting to be in the top five on both units,” – Bam Adebayo
For his career, the 14th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft averages (1.0) steal and (0.9) blocks per game. He may not be the number one shot blocker in the league, but he absolutely makes his presence felt on the defensive end. We mentioned Rudy Gobert earlier in comparison to Adebayo and even he can’t do some of the things that Bam does.
Adebayo may not find himself in the running this season for DPOY, but to be the best defender in the league, you have to think that you are. All the top talent in the NBA think they are better than everyone else. You want them to have that mentality as it’s likely what got them to that point in their careers. If Adebayo can have a season where he averages over two blocks and double-digit rebounds, he could then find himself in the running for DPOY.
