![\"Miami](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-12-at-5.38.54-AM.jpg\")
Miami Heat big Bam Adebayo is one of the NBA\u2019s best defenders. (Mandatory Credit: Eric Espada\/NBAE via Getty Images)<\/p>\nMiami Heat big Bam Adebayo is one of the NBA\u2019s best defenders. (Mandatory Credit: Eric Espada\/NBAE via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Death, taxes, the Miami Heat sporting a top-flight defense.<\/p>\n
Believe it or not, that\u2019s been the trend since Bam Adebayo entered the starting lineup full-time in 2019-20.<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t refute that the Heat\u2019s three-time All-Star has been indispensable for the team\u2019s defense, which was a top-10 unit in each of the last six seasons entering 2025-26, including a top-5 unit twice.<\/p>\n
Well, guess what? The Heat are on track to be a top-5 unit once again behind Erik Spoelstra\u2019s brains and Bam Adebayo\u2019s excellence. And the ninth-year big, who has finished top-5 in Defensive Player of the Year five times with five All-Defensive teams, still can\u2019t fully grasp why he hasn\u2019t gotten any hardware for what he\u2019s had to cover up on that end of the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goalposts always move for me. We got a top-five defense, and it\u2019s like I\u2019ve heard nothing about it,\u201d Adebayo said recently,<\/a> according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. \u201cI do think I should be on an All-Defensive team. I feel like that\u2019s understood. But people might try to pick other dudes or whatever the case may be. <\/p>\n \u201cThey try to use anything. I don\u2019t even know what the criteria is anymore because at first it was about winning, and then you got guys that aren\u2019t winning that are on the team. It\u2019s confusing to the criteria, but I\u2019ve always prided myself on defense. I do think I deserve to be All-Defensive team, first team. We got a top-four defense, so that is the level of DPOY. So yeah, the numbers don\u2019t lie.\u201d<\/p>\n Bam Adebayo completely changes the way teams attack Heat:<\/p>\n Adebayo\u2019s long been regarded as one of the most versatile players in the NBA \u2014 especially defensively. He can switch, blitz, hedge and play in drop \u2014 despite being slightly undersized \u2014 at an incredibly high level. Adebayo has excellent hand-eye coordination, a strong center of gravity, good foot speed and hip mobility and remarkable instincts. <\/p>\n He prides himself on the defensive end as much as anyone. And Adebayo believes he deserves more recognition because he knows how much opposing offenses try to scheme him out of each possession.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom my peers and the people who play against me and understand that you\u2019ve got to put me in the corner, so I don\u2019t miss up your offensive schemes, that\u2019s what matters more,\u201d Adebayo said. \u201cWhen we get in these playoffs and they\u2019re like, \u2018No, don\u2019t go to the screen with him. Put him in the strong side corner and just let him stay there. If we get a switch, swing it, swing it to somebody else.\u2019 I don\u2019t even know if you can count that as a stat. But that\u2019s real in basketball, and a lot of people who are doing surveys wouldn\u2019t know that. They just think because, \u2018Oh, he\u2019s a DPOY because he has five blocks a game.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Adebayo doesn\u2019t always record a ton of \u201cstocks\u201d (steals and blocks), Tuesday\u2019s blowout win<\/a> notwithstanding. But the Heat are 4.8 points per 100 possessions better defensively when he\u2019s on the floor (84th percentile), according to Cleaning The Glass. He\u2019s improved their defensive output by at least 3.5 points per 100 each of the last five seasons, including by 5.0 points twice.<\/p>\n That\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n No disrespect to his teammates, but for most of his career, he\u2019s carried the unit while being surrounded, for the most part, by slightly above-average defenders, at best. Jimmy Butler, Pelle Larsson, Davion Mitchell and Andrew Wiggins are a few exceptions. But he\u2019s carried most of the water, and he should eventually get more hardware because of it.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n To check out our other content, click\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter\/X\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n Check out Hot Hot Hoops on Facebook\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n Subscribe to our YouTube channel\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"Heat](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-01-25-9.44AM-1024x682.jpg\")
(Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n