The Miami Heat’s revamped offense is already paying off. Despite a recent 107-101 loss to the Spurs, Miami has been scoring with ease. While many players have thrived in the new system, it’s Bam Adebayo who has embraced the biggest shift, expanding his offensive game, averaging 23 points, while maintaining elite defense. Yet, the 28-year-old believes his true edge might come from something far beyond the basketball court.

Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo recently appeared on NBA on Prime alongside teammate Norman Powell. During the segment, the host brought up whether Adebayo deserves recognition for the Defensive Player of the Year award, a major honor that has narrowly escaped him throughout his career. While Powell confidently backed his teammate to finally win it this season, Adebayo’s own outlook on the matter was far more reserved.

Adebayo believes that winning the DPOY award is largely out of his control, calling it a matter of politics rather than performance. “I can’t, I can’t worry about that because it’s political,” Adebayo said. “I’m not one of the people. I feel like I just can’t. I don’t want to beg my way to it. Like, if I get it, I get it cool.” His honesty stands out, especially since most players tend to avoid weighing in on the politics behind end-of-season awards.

When a three-time All-Star like Bam Adebayo makes a statement like this, it definitely carries weight. Although his exact reasoning is unclear and blurry, the comments do raise questions not only about the fairness of the Defensive Player of the Year race but also about other major honors like MVP and the credibility of the NBA’s voting process.

The doubt stems from past controversies and debates over who’s the best. Already, a lot of people within the NBA community were quite surprised to see Shai Gilgeous-Alexander win the league MVP over Denver’s Nikola Jokic. Even numbers fuel this narrative. SGA was averaging 32 points with 5 rebounds and 6.4 assists (76 games), whereas Jokic was averaging 29 points with 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists (70 games).

Now Bam Adebayo’s strong statement has taken things further up a notch. More so, after you get to know that the 28-year-old, who played down wanting to win this award, not too long ago, was on a mission to get one to cement his place as one of, if not the best, defensive players within the league.

Bam Adebayo has given up his long-time dream

While Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo acted nonchalantly when asked about wanting to back himself to win the DPOY award, that hasn’t always been the case. Just over a couple of seasons ago, the then-26-year-old Adebayo was on a mission to acquire this very honor. In an interview with Playmaker, the four-time All-Defensive Second Team center clearly stated that he wanted to win DPOY.

“Everybody always looks at the last column, which is how many points did he score in the game? And people forget that other side of the court exists because of the entertainment business,” he said. “So for me it’s just that will, that passion, that mentality. … I want to get Defensive Player of the Year just so I can have the award.”

Although it was Rudy Gobert who ended up winning the DPOY award during the 2023-24 season, Bam wasn’t far behind. The Heat center finished third in the voting (168 points, including 73 First Team votes and 22 Second Team votes) and even made the All-Defensive First Team for the first time in his career. This was the closest he ever came to achieving his dream, but now, after it statement, it seems like that was the last time he tried to win that award.

Nonetheless, Bam Adebayo should not think it’s the end of the road for him, as he has started this season pretty strongly. After all, he’s still young and has several years of his prime ahead of him. Although the Miami center might not think so but there’s certainly a high chance that he’ll win a DPOY honor before he’s all set and done in this league, especially if he continues to keep up with his two-way performances.