Is This The Year Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo Wins Defensive Player Of The Year?

It seems like Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo is always in the mix for the Defensive Player of the Year award but never clinches it.

This may finally be the year he wins.

According to Vegas Insider, Adebayo has the best odds behind Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Cleveland Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley and last season’s winner, Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson.

The Heat center believes he was disrespected in 2022 after not even placing top three. In an interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, Adebayo said he’s been the league’s best defender the past two seasons.

“I guard one through five,” Adebayo said. “It’s not a lot of us: me, Draymond, and Giannis. It has to translate, Rudy in the playoffs didn’t translate. And Marcus Smart guards one through four. That’s the thing I thought was different between me and them.”

Bam thinks he “100%” should have won back-to-back DPOY

'I guard 1 through 5' 👀

(via @TaylorRooks) pic.twitter.com/8Mob3cQjcs
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 27, 2023

If Miami does end up getting Damian Lillard, Adebayo could focus solely on defense and rebounding. This way, he wouldn’t have to put up 25-point performances to stay in the good graces of Heat fans.

Antetokounmpo is a great defender but his teammates Brook Lopez and Jrue Holiday make it difficult to even rank him the best on his team. Lopez finished second in voting last season. Jackson winning the award likely elevates the standards for him next season, which could help or hurt his case. Mobley earned his recognition but was largely outside the top spots until later in the season.

Safe to say, Adebayo has a legitimate shot to be recognized as the league’s top defender.

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Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jaydenshome14@gmail.com or follow him on TikTok @jaydenarmant.