“Rudy Gobert in Playoffs? Nah, and Marcus Smart!?”: Bam Adebayo Opens up On His DPOY Snub For Two Straight Years

The NBA’s yearly awards generally would not seem fair to the players who always cut close until the final few days but lose it out eventually to somebody else. Bam Adebayo has been losing out on the DPOY award for quite a long time and finally, he has broken his silence about the same.

The Miami Heat big man is one of the best defenders in the league and only one of the few who really guards one through five and does not just carry that tag around.

He has had enough of seeing Rudy Gobert and Marcus Smart winning the highest honor for defenders in the last two years, both of whom might be terrific at defense but are not as versatile as him according to the Heat All-Star.

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Bam Adebayo opens up on why he thinks he should be DPOY

Speaking to Taylor Rooks recently, Bam spoke candidly and made his case for the Defensive Player of the Year after the Bleacher Report journalist asked him to do the same.

He did not hesitate in calling out what’s what, whatsoever, and dissed his NBA companions for what they have achieved in the past two years, which Bam thinks, should be rightfully his.

Rooks: You have said that you are the best defender in the NBA. Make your case.

Bam: I guard 1 through 5. There’s not a lot of us: me, Draymond, Giannis. Who else?

Rooks: Well last year, Marcus Smart won. Year before that, Rudy won.

Bam: Yeah but Rudy can’t-

Rooks: You say Rudy no?

Bam: Nah

Rooks: You were like ‘I should’ve won the DPOY the last two years.’ Why do you feel like you should have won over Rudy and Marcus?

Bam: It has to translate, and I feel like Rudy in the playoffs didn’t translate. And, Marcus Smart guards 1 through 4.

He is not much off with his take. One DPOY to Gobert was alright. But a man who gets mocked by every guard in the post-season should not be a 3x DPOY. As far as Smart goes, he did deserve it last year as much as Bam did.

DPOY race 2023

This year Bam is trailing the Bucks’ big not named Giannis Antetokounmpo — Brook Lopez, who has been the anchor of the defense in Milwaukee and will probably win the award if he keeps up with it.

Jaren Jackson Jr. and Robert Williams III are also above him in the rankings according to the latest NBA.com updates but keeping in mind the number of games the Celtics big man would have played by the end of the season (even if he stays fit), Adebayo would be fighting the other two by year-end.

Also read: “Wouldn’t Have Had My Career With Zone Defense”: Michael Jordan Believed He’d Be Less Successful If Defended By Zone

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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