Friday night brought about mixed emotions for Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo. The big man received two prestigious NBA honors for the 2025-26 season: the Social Justice Champion Award and a spot in the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. However, despite returning to a familiar spot after missing out in 2025, Adebayo expressed his frustration publicly on something he’s been vocal about over the years.

On an individual level, Adebayo led the Heat for the first time without Jimmy Butler for a full season to the best of his abilities. Offensively, he recorded a career-high 83 points, and defensively, he has emerged as an elite, versatile big man. This effort ultimately fetched him the All-Defensive Second Team honors.

“It’s still work to be done,” Bam Adebayo said in an NBC interview after receiving the Social Justice Champion Award. “I still got so much more to give to this NBA, got so much more to give to the fans. And it’s a stepping stone.” Still, he immediately shifted gears to reveal that he expected more. “I feel like I do first-team things every year. We can take what we can get. Good to be back. I feel like I got snubbed a couple of times,” Adebayo added.

His case is proven by his defensive numbers for the 2025-26 season, when the big man averaged nearly a block and a steal per game. Apart from this, he has always been known for putting defensive pressure on opponents and guarding various positions.

As mentioned earlier, this isn’t the first time the Heat center expressed his frustration with defensive honors. After four straight All-Defensive Second Team nods (2020-23), he jumped to First Team in 2024. However, a shock came in 2025 when the league didn’t list him on either of the All-Defensive teams.

“I think people get tired of seeing consistency. It gets boring when you see somebody doing it over and over again,” Bam said.

Can Bam Adebayo get back into the Defensive First Team and win DPOY?

Bam Adebayo shared All-Defensive Second Team honors with Scottie Barnes, Cason Wallace, Dyson Daniels, and OG Anunoby. However, in the DPOY race, Adebayo finished in 11th place, receiving only one third-place vote from the 100-member panel.

In the 2025-26 season, whenever Adebayo stayed on the floor, the Heat posted a defensive rating of 113.2; without him, it fell to 116.7. That translates to the Heat allowing 3.5 fewer points per 100 possessions. Above all, he ranked sixth in defensive rating among big men who have played over 1500 minutes.

What separates Bam Adebayo from other traditional rim protectors is his ability to move around the floor and guard every position. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra previously commented that Adebayo’s defense is as impactful as Victor Wembanyama’s. Spoelstra, talking about the DPOY race, told reporters, “It just depends on what flavor you like. A unicorn shot blocker that totally changes everything in the paint or a unicorn one through five that can do any scheme in this league.”

Ironically, that versatility might be the reason the big man feels the league snubs him for DPOY honors, with more traditional rim protectors often preferred by voters. After finishing in the top-5 and losing to Rudy Gobert in 2024, he said, “That’s one thing that irks me, it’s not my fault I’m versatile.”

However, these setbacks don’t seem to change his mindset. “This is who I am. This is how I got in the league.” The team still relies on him. So, it seems like another first-team push is in the cards, with perhaps a DPOY as well. What do you think?