Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo Once Again Misses Out On NBA's Defensive Player Of The Year Award

The award continues to elude Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo.

On Tuesday, Adebayo finished third in the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year voting. He averaged 10.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks this season while being the anchor for the Heat's defense. The winner was Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert while San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama placed second.

Regardless of the voting, Adebao continues to grow as a defender. At his exit interview last week, he said he is continuing to progress.

“I would say being in the right place at the right time, work smart instead of harder,” Adebayo said. “I feel like that was my mind shift, being able to help people before certain situations happen, being able to talk everybody through a scheme, being able to teach that scheme. I think I did a great job of that. I thought a lot of guys understand the coverages that we do now.”

Heat team president Pat Riley said Adebayo has grown as a player each season since he was drafted in 2017.

“Bam’s growth from his rookie year to what he is right now has been off the charts,” Riley said Monday. “Everybody knows what his game is, what he does for us, how important he is in a lot of areas. And so he has to expand his game also. He’s an all-NBA player and we’re happy to have him.”

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Inside The Heat. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com