Photo Credit USA TODAY Sports
Bam Adebayo Disappointed After DPOY Snub: “Disrespectful, I Can Do That Too”
Bam Adebayo is easily one of the best defenders in the league right now. He is often overshadowed by popular names such as Rudy Gobert and Draymond Green. But make no mistake, Adebayo deserves to be in the same tier as those defensive stalwarts.
His ability to protect the rim while being able to hound defenders out on the perimeter is what garnered him recognition as a defensive player. Adebayo is also a threat on the defensive glass, averaging 7.9 defensive rebounds per game, this season. Adebayo also has never shied away from challenging anyone who comes into his space on the defensive end.
Yesterday, Marcus Smart was awarded the defensive player of the year award, becoming the first guard since Gary Payton to do so.
Abebayo meanwhile didn’t even make the final cut of award finalists, wasn’t pleased about it one bit, and expressed his disappointment, and blamed it on the Heat’s exposure:
“Disrespectful. I feel like I can do anything that two out of the three can do, besides, I mean, I can’t teach height, but they all three play on TV more than me, so I would expect that. They get more TV games and they get more exposure, people like to talk about them more. Don’t nobody want to talk about us. So, it’s whatever at that point.”
Bam Adebayo says he didn’t know he wasn’t a DPOY finalist until talking to media after practice. His response:
“Disrespectful… I can do anything those other guys can do.”
Goes on to cite the lack of national TV games as a reason. pic.twitter.com/E8wzs3MrqD
— Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg) April 18, 2022
