Boston Celtics star Marcus Smart made history last season when he became the first point guard to win the Defensive Player of the Year award since Gary Payton achieved the same feat nearly three decades ago. It was an undeniably remarkable feat for Smart, but unsurprisingly, there are some who believe that the trophy should have been given to someone else. One person who is of this same belief is Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo.
In his mind, Adebayo is adamant that he's the top defender in the NBA right now. As a matter of fact, the All-Star big man firmly believes that this has been the case for the past couple of seasons. According to Bam, the only thing standing in his way from bagging that elusive DPOY title is the media:
“I feel like I’ve been the best defender in the last two seasons,” Adebayo told Mark Medina of NBA.com. “There’s no excuse. The media doesn’t like hearing about undrafted guys. The media wants to hear about the No. 1 picks and the top picks. They want to watch them on TV. We have a team that is made up of almost all undrafted guys. It sounds like it’s a great story to talk about, but they don’t want to see it. It discredits us with what we’ve accomplished with making it to the Eastern Conference finals [last season]. It’s those little things.”
Bam Adebayo clearly isn't pleased with the narrative that the media has bestowed upon him — or rather, the lack thereof. He also believes that the same is the case for his Miami Heat in that their players and their collective story just aren't the type that is able to effortlessly grab headlines.
After blasting the media, Adebayo then doubled down on his stance about being the very top defender in the NBA:
“But I feel like I’m the best defender in the league,” he continued. “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 has been playing with a chip on his shoulder for pretty much his entire career. It doesn't sound like this is going to change anytime soon, which if you think about it, could actually bode well for himself as well as the Heat.
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