Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo just isn't letting it go. The two-time All-Star firmly believes that he's the best defender in the entire NBA, and still seems to be feeling a bit salty about the fact that he has been snubbed for the Defensive Player of the Year title for two years running now.
In a recent interview with Bleacher Report's Taylor Rooks, Adebayo admitted that he “100%” believes that he should have been the NBA's DPOY over the last two seasons. He has a simple explanation as to why he should have bagged the award over Rudy Gobert (2021) and Marcus Smart (2022):
“I guard 1 through 5,” Bam said. “It's not a lot of us: me, Draymond (Green), Giannis. Who else? … Rudy can't. … It has to translate, and I feel like Rudy in the playoffs didn't translate. And Marcus Smart guards 1 through 4.”
Taylor Rooks: "Last year, Marcus Smart won. Year before that, Rudy [Gobert] won."
Bam Adebayo: "Yeah, but Rudy can't."
TR: "You say Rudy, no?"
BA: "Nah… It has to translate, and I feel like Rudy in the playoffs didn't translate. And Marcus Smart pic.twitter.com/hEAycYt0uw… https://t.co/1COmbpzQpV
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) February 27, 2023
Does Bam Adebayo have a point here? For what it's worth, Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs a couple of years ago. The Heat, on the other hand, went out in the opening round.
You can't argue about his jab against Marcus Smart, though. He may be one of the best defenders in the NBA (the experts believe that he was the top dog last season, actually), but at 6-foot-3, he does have trouble guarding big men. In his belief, this simply isn't the case for Bam Adebayo, and this is exactly why he thinks he deserves the DPOY title over these two.
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