Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo has been on a tear since returning from his thumb injury that needed surgery. In fact, he has been so impactful that head coach Erik Spoelstra couldn't help but compare him to Golden State Warriors defensive guru Draymond Green.

In the 19 games he has played since coming back mid-January, Adebayo has averaged 19.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.9 assist, 1.9 steals and 1.4 blocks. More recently in their last five games, he has taken his defensive game up a notch, recording 14 blocks in that span for a 2.8 average.

Adebayo has been really crucial for the Heat as they created some margin for the East top seed, now at 41-21 and two games ahead of the second-seeded Chicago Bulls. Not long ago, there was less than one game separating the top dogs in the conference.

With the way Adebayo has been playing so far, Spoelstra expressed his belief that the Heat big man should be in the conversation for the Defensive Player of the Year award. He went on to claim that Adebayo is a rare breed in the NBA, adding that only Green can do what he does on the defensive end.

“I think he’s deserved to be in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year,” Spoelstra said, per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “He just makes you so dynamic defensively. There’s not many guys in the league that can do what he does—[Warriors forward] Draymond Green, and the list probably stops there.”

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The Heat are in the upper echelon of the NBA when it comes to defense, ranking sixth in defensive rating as of time of writing. And truly, Bam Adebayo deserves a ton of credit for helping the team be successful on that end while stringing wins.

Moreover, there is also some merit to Erik Spoelstra's comparison. Why it is obvious that the playing style of Adebayo and Draymond Green are different, their defensive IQ and ability to disrupt defenses with their tools are undoubtedly top-notch.

Unfortunately for the Heat, Adebayo is not getting a lot of love in the Defensive Player of the Year conversations. Heck, he's not even in the Top 10 of the unofficial list.

As what the underdog Miami squad has proven time and time again, though, they'll let their game do the talking.