Miami Heat anchor, Bam Adebayo, currently 4th on NBA Defensive Player Ladder

The Miami Heat are continuing to build on what they are doing well and coming off two of their most interesting performances of the season. To be frank, you can call it two of their better.

Hear us out there though. Though they went down big to the Atlanta Hawks in their game on Monday, Martin Luther King Day, that was more a product of the Hawks’ ability to flat-out explode offensively than something that the Heat were doing or failing to do.

Now, because of what the Miami Heat were able to do, effectively play their brand of swarming and pestering defense going into the second half, they pulled the game to within a few possessions after being down 20-plus points early on.

They weren’t able to win, but to see them play that kind of defense and fight back was good to see—plus it carried right over to their next game on Wednesday. Walking into the Smoothie King Center of New Orleans, the Miami Heat would jump on Pelicans early behind the quick-hitting antics of Kyle Lowry, never looking back.

Miami Heat Anchor, Bam Adebayo, Currently 4 On NBA Defensive Player Ladder

Though the Miami Heat offense never got as stagnant as we can see it get at times, they were still only average on that side of the ball, nothing close to the pyrotechnics that the Hawks displayed on Monday.

But what put and kept the Miami Heat ahead was their ability to control the game and create opportunities for themselves on the defensive side of the ball. And that’s just what they did.

But here’s the thing. They are only able to do all that they are able to do because of the man in the middle for them, Bam Adebayo.

Though he is special on defense on way more nights than he isn’t, the Miami Heat are special on that side when everyone simply does their jobs. Now, you have guys like Jimmy Butler, Victor Oaldipo, and Caleb Martin, who are all overwhelming elite on that side of the ball themselves, but Bam Adebayo is just different.

And that is what is so shocking about his current ranking on the NBA’s Defensive Player Ladder, effectively a live and running tally of who can be assumed to be named the NBA’s Defensive Player Of The Year once it’s all said and done.

When you think about all that Bam does for this Heat team and in general, it’s shocking that he could be ranked behind some of the guys that he is.

Nobody Defends The Way And As Effectively As Bam Does For Miami Heat

Sitting at four, Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies, Brook Lopez of the Milwaukee Bucks, and Nic Claxton of the Brooklyn Nets, in that order, all sit before him.

And while they are all pretty good defenders in their own rights, they aren’t Bam Adebayo. It’s the classic case of those that are supposed to be in the know, not really knowing what they are judging.

The top three guys are also bigs but don’t primarily get it done in the same way as Bam does for his Miami Heat. While Adebayo guards any and every single body on the opposition, the top three guys in the rankings right now excel at help-side or weakside defense, where they just clean up shots at the rim or other people’s primary assignments.

Now, JJJ does have a bit of that ability to guard guys anywhere on the court, to be fair, but he doesn’t do it at anywhere near the effectiveness or frequency that Bam does. The other two guys, well, it really isn’t even a question.

And while there is a long way to go for things to be all said and done here, let’s hope that things eventually correct themselves. Because while someone will always disagree that he may, in fact, be the league’s best defender, he certainly isn’t fourth, and especially behind these guys.