NBA recognizes Adebayo’s play with All-Defensive nod
Bam Adebayo on Tuesday became the first Miami Heat player in four years named to an NBA All-Defensive team.
Adebayo was voted to the second team, same as Hassan Whiteside, the player he replaced in the Heat starting lineup, who earned such a nod in 2016.
The Heat’s Jimmy Butler finished as the second runner-up among forwards for a second-team nod, the only other Heat player to receive votes.
The Heat have not had a firstteam All-Defensive selection since LeBron James in 2013.
The only Heat players selected first-team All-Defensive remain AlonzoMourning (1999, 2000) and James (2011, ’12, ’13).
Adebayo joins previous Heat second-team All-Defensive selections P.J. Brown (1997, ’99), Bruce Bowen (2001), Dwyane Wade (2005, ’09, ’10), James (2014) and
Whiteside.
The Heat have never had an NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 2019-20 Defensive Player of the Year, led the first team, joined on that unit by Los Angeles Lakers forwardAnthony Davis, Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert and Boston Celtics guardMarcus Smart.
Earning second-team nodswere Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, Bucks center Brook Lopez, Clippers guard Patrick Beverley, Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe and Adebayo.
Players were awarded two points for each vote to the first team and one point for each vote to the second team, in the media balloting that was concluded prior to the NBA’s late-July restart at DisneyWorld.
Adebayo, who finished fifth in
Defensive Player of the Year voting, averaged 1.29 blocks and 1.14 steals. He finished second among all power forwards in defensive real plus/minus (plus 3.06), trailing only Antetokounmpo, and second among all players with at least 50 defended post-ups, allowing 0.63 points per possession.
He also ranked third in defending isolation plays, allowing 0.66 points per possession and fifth in the NBA for both defensive win shares (plus 3.9) and defensive points saved (plus 99.0).
The No. 14 pick in the 2017 NBA draft, defended multiple positions the season, defending 440 shots from forwards, 324 shots from guards and 169 shots from centers. He held all three positions under 49 percent from the field.
Additionally, the 23-year-old led the Heat in blocks (93), defensive rebounds (559) and total rebounds (735), while finishing second in steals (82).