Inside The Heat

Cavs' Evan Mobley Grabbing Honor Raises Bam Adebayo Question Among Heat Fans

Shandel Richardson|
Mar 5, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) during the first half at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Mar 5, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) during the first half at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

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Miami Heat

Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley beat out Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat for a third time this season. On Friday, he was named to the All-NBA second-team. This comes a month after he won the Defensive Player of the Year award. The Cavs also cruised past the Heat in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, so it's been a rough stretch for Heat fans regarding Adebayo.



This season, Mobley accomplished individual accolades fans have expected from Adebayo. Mobley averaged 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in his fourth season. Both players had similar numbers _Adebayo averaged 18.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 0.7 blocks _ but Mobley had team success on his side. The Cavaliers (64-18) were the No. 1 seed in the East before falling to the New York Knicks in the second round.

Naturally, it caused some fans to question Adebayo's worth after seeing this from Mobley. To be fair, Adebayo has exceeded all expectations since being drafted in 2017. He's made the All-Star Game four times. He's made the All-Defensive first-team once and chosen four times for second-team.

The uproar is likely from fans having so many expectations of Adebayo this season. There was talk of him taking over the lead scoring role from Jimmy Butler, especially after an impressive showing in the Olympics last summer. While Adebayo did not regress, the progress was minimal. Tyler Herro was the leading man all season.

Now, it leaves fans with another summer wondering if this year is finally when Adebayo hits the next level.

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here