MIAMI — Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo on Tuesday was named to an NBA All-Defensive team for the fourth time in his six-year career, for the fourth consecutive season, named second team.
Adebayo previously was named second-team All-Defensive in 2020, ’21 and ’22, missing out on the distinction only in his first two seasons.
Adebayo joined LeBron James as the only players in the franchise’s 35 seasons who have been named All-Defensive four times. James was first-team All-Defensive with the Heat in 2011, ’12 and ’13, and second team in 2014, making it in each of his seasons with the team.
Dwyane Wade was All-Defensive three times with the Heat, all on the second team, with Alonzo Mourning and P.J. Brown each twice named All-Defensive while with the Heat. Mourning twice was named first team, with Brown twice named second team.
The Heat’s other All-Defensive selections were Bruce Bowen (second team in 2001), Hassan Whiteside (second team in 2016) and Jimmy Butler, whose lone All-Defensive nod since joining the Heat in 2019 was a second-team selection in 2021.
Adebayo finished fifth in the voting for 2023 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, behind, in order, Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr., Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez, Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green.
While the Heat defense was uneven at times, Adebayo anchored a defense that ultimately closed fourth in the league in defensive net rating.
The All-Defensive teams were selected in balloting of 100 media members that was completed before the start of the postseason.
This is the final year that All-Defensive will be selected by position.
Named Tuesday to the first team were Lopez at center, Jackson and Mobley at forward, and the Chicago Bulls’ Alex Caruso and Milwaukee Bucks’ Jrue Holiday at guard.
Named Tuesday to the second team were Adebayo at center, Green and the Toronto Raptors’ O.G. Anunoby at forward, and the Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks and Boston Celtics’ Derrick White at guard.
Adebayo closed with 13 first-team votes and 27 second-team votes in the weighted balloting, a distant second at center to Lopez, who received 85 first-team votes and 11 second-team votes. The Heat defeated Lopez’s Bucks 4-1 in the opening round of this season’s playoffs.
Butler placed seventh among guards, with three first-team votes and 17 second-team votes. In addition to finishing behind Holiday, Caruso, White and Brooks at guard, he also finished behind the Celtics’ Marcus Smart and the Brooklyn Nets’ Mikal Bridges in the voting at guard.
Adebayo, 25, averaged 20.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.17 steals in 34.6 minutes per game during the regular season, anchoring a defense that ranked first in opponent offensive rebounds allowed per game, second in points allowed, second in charges taken, third in opponent field goals made per game and sixth in opponent rebounds per game. He led the Heat in rebounds a team-high 46 times and in blocks a team-high 34 times. He led the Heat in blocks, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds and total rebounds, finishing second in steals.
