No Miami Heat player has played better the last two months than three-time All-Star Bam Adebayo. But the lauded big man was recently praised by new teammate Davion Mitchell, who had very high praise for Adebayo’s defensive aptitude.
“He can guard from the Joel Embiid’s to the [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander]’s,” Mitchell said. “If you can guard those guys with comfort, then I feel you’re the best defender in the league. He doesn’t have no trouble guarding anyone.
“He can rebound with the best of ’em; he can be physical with the best of ’em. He can block shots, can make the shot hard on the perimeter if they shoot it. He’s 6’10, 6’9. He can move his feet. He’s kind of got it all. He’s athletic. He’s a special defender for sure.”
Adebayo, 27, has been one of the NBA’s most scheme-versatile defenders each of the last five seasons–netting five top-5 Defensive Player of the Year finishes over that span.
He can play drop as an undersized big; he can hedge or blitz; he can switch onto the league’s best ballhandlers and contain them in space. There’s nothing he can’t do at an elite level defensively, thus making him all the more valuable.
Through 59 games, he’s averaging 17.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists on 48.9 percent shooting and 31.2 percent from 3-point range. His field goal percentage would be a career low up to this point, though Adebayo’s shooting 55.4 percent on 15.0 field goal attempts over his last 19 games.
The Heat defense has been, for prolonged periods, pretty flimsy–but Adebayo’s been one of the few constants. A part of that is malleability with first-round rookie Kel’el Ware, even though their offense has been murky with those two sharing the floor together.
For the season, Miami has the No. 12 defense, but they are a top-10 defense according to the strength of schedule faced, according to Dunks and Threes. That comes despite having the eighth-worst turnover rate forced, which has been unusually poor for the Heat this season.
Do you think Adebayo is the best defender in the NBA? Let us know in the comments!
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This Heat season has been a total disaster from Pat, Spo, & Rozier. Complete total mess.
2nd best ad the best
When he’s not injured, maybe. Here’s how many games he has played the past 5 seasons:
2021 games played: 36 of 82 (44%)
2022 games played: 40 of 82 (48.8%)
2023 games played: 54 of 82 (65.8%)
2024 games played: 76 of 82 (92.7%)
2025 games played: 43 of 63 (68.3%)*
Totals: 249 played of 371 possible (67.1%)
*While he is making progress in his recovery, he is not close to a return and it’s unclear when/if he’ll be able to play again this season. After Kyrie Irving tore his ACL, Shams Charania reported that Davis might not return in 2024-2025.