Bam Adebayo has quietly put together a Hall of Fame resume during his nine-year NBA career with the Miami Heat.
As the 14th overall pick back in the 2017 draft, Adebayo has exceeded expectations. And he is far from done, as he just enters his prime years at 28 years old.
He is a three-time All-Star, five-time All-Defensive member, a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and a two-time NBA Finalist with Miami’s Finals runs in 2020 and 2023, respectively. Of course, he also broke the internet this past season with his historic 83-point performance in a win versus the Washington Wizards— a figure that is good for sole possession of the second-highest scoring outing in NBA history. Adebayo is also nearly just 30 rebounds away from officially becoming the Heat’s all-time franchise rebounding leader.
As the captain of the team, Adebayo displays leadership both on and off the court. His play as an uber versatile two-way big that can switch 1-5 defensively has made him build a reputation of one of the best centers in the league. But where does he really rank amongst the league’s top bigs?
According to Adebayo himself, he is number two.
You have to respect the confidence from the Heat star, and although he isn’t far off at all with his self proclaimed ranking— it may not be exactly that.
Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic is miles ahead of any big in the association. That is no debate. But from there on, it gets a bit debatable.
On paper, San Antonio Spurs’ sensation Victor Wembanyama is almost certainly the second-best behind Jokic. He is already shaping up to be a generational superstar talent, and it didn’t take long since his rookie season for him to lead his Spurs to contention, either. San Antonio is just games away from reaching the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2014 in just his third campaign at 22 years old. If Wemby can stay healthy, he has potential to go down as an all-time great.
As much as Heat fans value everything that Adebayo brings to the table, he’s not on that level.
However, as mentioned, he wasn’t that far off. Adebayo is arguably the better all around player than Joel Embiid at this point of both their careers. Unlike Embiid, Adebayo has appeared in more than 70 games each of the last four seasons. Off the fact of availability being the best ability alone— not even including the defensive impact— Adebayo has proven to be significantly more consistent and reliable than Embiid in recent years amongst big man ranks.
Where would you place Bam on your current top big men list? Let us know in the comments!
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I rank myself the best sf in our village during my teen yrs to 20s, moved to best sg in my 30s lol
Bam is overestimating his rank. He’s more of a second team all defense.
Team DREB% with player on court 2025-26, from basketball reference
78.7 Wemby
77.7 Bam
77.2 Jokic
73 Embiid
Jokic led the league in rebounding this year (12.9 per game) but Denver was lower in DREB% with Jokic on than Miami with Bam on. Probably due in part to lineup combinations but on the other hand Miami started Wiggins at the 4/was criticized all year by fans for playing small ball.
Philly with Embiid team DREB% was 78% in Embiid’s MVP year, 2022-23.
All 4 at their peak have elite on off DREB%.
In recent years would put Bam as the #3 center in the league after Jokic and Embiid, both league MVPs. Bam always seemed like more of a playoff riser compared to Embiid. Bam averaged 22/12 in the Finals in 2023.
Bam is perpetually underrated imo because he is 6’9″ and defense is the harder side of the ball to see/appreciate. You can watch any Heat game and he is diverting opponents possessions into misses and shot clock violations, while giving you 20/10 on offense and being a focal point of the other teams defensive gameplan.
Can make an argument other centers are comparable to Bam in value based on contract (Zubac makes only $20m, 40% of what Bam makes) but on talent he’s clearly #3 in the NBA after Wemby and Jokic imo.
he doesnt take your team to another level hes a good complimentary player thats it.when has bam single handedly won a game besides the generals game,if hes your best player your a playin team.second best top 6-8 team.third best ecf contender
Bam already was the #2 on 2023 Heat Finals team after Butler, went toe to toe with Jokic, 3x NBA MVP, was outplayed. Bam as #2 gets you to the Finals, that’s happened twice in last 7 years.
Heat were -41 vs Denver in 2023 Finals in 5 games. Bam had 109 points, 62 rebounds, -30. Vs Jokic 151 points, 70 rebounds, +39, and Finals MVP.
Only in a world where you rate centers by height do you have Bam as not one of the best centers in the league
Bam does play hard…no motor issues with him. But…it’s delusional thinking he’s #2. Sorry.
I like Bam and he is unique defensively. But I’m certain every GM in the league would take Wemby over Bam, and over Embiid for that matter.
wemby #1 joker 2 embid3 when healthy kat 4 bam 5
KAT over Bam based on last two weeks of NYK playoffs vs ATL and Philly is absurd