“There are just certain things to laugh at”

Despite a good individual campaign, Bam Adebayo is not among the finalists for the Defensive Player Of the Year (DPOY) trophy. The finalists were revealed last week:

This is the frenchie Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz), de Ben Simmons (Philadelphia 76ers) and Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors). As for the main interested party, he made the choice to laugh about it:

“There are just a few things to laugh about, you know what I mean,” Adebayo said during a recent appearance on Tobin & Leroy on 790 The Ticket. “Expect the unexpected. I decided to laugh about it. But that’s the thing, I don’t feel like I have to campaign for an individual award. ”

However, to put Adebayo among the finalists would not have been a scandal: the former Kentucky is among others one of the 13 players in the NBA to accumulate at least 1 against and 1 interception on average over the season. But Adebayo is not just a statistical defender (hello Andre Drummond) He’s one if not the most versatile interior on that side of the pitch. Able to switch to almost any position, Adebayo is a real wound in defense from the height of its 2.06 m. Nevertheless, the defensive rating of the Heat, which without being ridiculous is not exceptional either (111.2 points / game, 8th in the league) must have cost it its place among the finalists. Especially when we see that the Sixers (2nd), Jazz (4th) and Warriors (5th) all have a better Defensive rating than Miami.

His coach at the Heat Eric Spoelstra still does not include the finalist vote:

“It’s disappointing to see this,” said Erik Spoelstra, of the fact that Adebayo was not selected as a finalist for the DPOY. “The only thing you can do right now is win. It changes people’s outlook. I don’t know what it was based on, either advanced stats, statistics, whatever. But we are moving forward. ”

Via Miami Herald