As pre-season basketball wraps up and the regular season ramps up, the NBA puts out annual surveys to general managers across the association to get their feedback on specific topics.
General managers were not allowed to vote for players or staff on their respective teams. In one poll in particular, they were asked “Who is the best defensive player in the NBA?”. Bucks Giannis Antetekounpo led 40% of votes at the number one spot and his former teammate guard Jrue Holiday was number two on the list. But it’s not about who was on the list that stuck out, it was about who wasn’t.
Fresh off their loss in the NBA Finals in June to the Denver Nuggets and back-to-back trips to the Eastern Conference Finals appearances against the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo received zero recognition by NBA general managers when asked this question in the survey conducted by the NBA. This rubbed Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra the wrong way.
"That one is just unbelievable to me. I think Bam is the best defensive player in the league and I just can't understand why he's not recognized for how impactful he is on that end of the court. So he's just going to have to prove it again and just do it this year until everybody notices.
Despite coach Spoelstra being recognized amongst NBA general managers as the best head coach, leading 73% of votes in the survey, along with the best defensive schemes; the historic 2022 Miami Heat team failed to have a player mentioned in the “best defensive player” survey.
"I think that's a good award to go for. A lot of awards I think can potentially get in the way of winning. I think that one is a great one and I don't think he's going to take himself out of anything.
“I think he just has to be who he is, do what he does, and just be that dynamic force on that end of the court. Then I think he's going to get recognized for that and hopefully we'll have a great defense this year and he leads us on that end of the court,” Spoelstra said.
Adebayo did not receive a single vote for best defensive player in the association despite being third in votes for most versatile defender in polls. Bam had very little to say about where the general managers across the league ranked him as the best defensive player.
“They’re just mad because I be locking up their best player. That’s all that is,” Adebayo said
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