Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo Calls Omission From Defensive Player Of The Year Finalist `Disrespectful'

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo has spent all season campaigning for his case in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year award.

So, it was a surprise to Adebayo when he figured out that he was not selected to compete for the award.

The three finalists are Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart, and Phoenix Suns forward Mikal Bridges. Adebayo spoke Monday about not receiving a selection.

“It’s disrespectful, obviously,” Adebayo said after Monday's practice. “I feel like I can do anything that two out of the three can do, besides not being able to teach height. All three of them play on TV more than me, so I would expect that. They get more TV games, they get more exposure, people like to talk about them more. Nobody wants to talk about us, so it’s whatever at that point.”

Bam Adebayo on not being a DPOY finalist: It's disrespectful. I feel like I can do anything that two out of the three can do. I can't teach height. All three play on TV more than me. They get more exposure. No one wants to talk about us. pic.twitter.com/bE7pVaZdjM
— Brendan Tobin (@Brendan_Tobin) April 18, 2022

When looking at his defensive impact, Adebayo’s frustration is justifiable. While Adebayo has missed a good chunk of the season due to injury, he still has a significant effect on Miami’s defense. The Heat have No. 1 defense when he is on the court.

Head coach Erik Spoelstra also weighed in on Adebayo being snubbed from award consideration.

“I’m just really stunned that Bam is not a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year,” Spoelstra said. “I don’t know what people are watching, and he’s played enough games, so I don’t want to hear that excuse. That’s probably the biggest disappointment of the year. But if he just continues to do this, eventually you give people no choice but to recognize what he’s capable of doing.”

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.