Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo calls Defensive Player of the Year snub 'disrespectful'

MIAMI — A couple of hours after the Miami Heat opened up their postseason run with a dominant 115-91 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday, the NBA announced the finalists for the 2021-22 regular-season awards.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was named one of the top three candidates for Coach of the Year. Tyler Herro was one of the top three candidates for Sixth Man of the Year. The Defensive Player of the Year pool, however, did not include Miami big man Bam Adebayo.

«I'm just really stunned that Bam is not a finalist,» Spoelstra said after practice Monday. «I don't know what people are watching. And he's played in enough games, so I don't want that as an excuse, either.»

Adebayo played in 56 games for the Heat, who boasted the fourth-best defensive rating in the league. He was edged by Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics, who played 71 games for the No. 1-rated defense; Mikal Bridges of the Phoenix Suns, who played 82 games for the No. 3-rated defense; and Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz, who played 66 games for the No. 10-rated defense.

The Heat's do-everything big man believes the voting was skewed not by overall availability, but by how many times the top candidates' games garnered the national spotlight.

«Disrespectful,» Adebayo said Monday when asked about the announcement of the finalists. «I feel like I can do anything that two out of the three can do. Besides, I mean, I can't teach height. But they all three play on TV more than me. So I would expect that. They get more TV games and they get more exposure. People like to talk about them more. Don't nobody want to talk about us. So, it's whatever at that point.»

Coming into the season, the Suns had 34 nationally televised games scheduled. The Celtics had 32, the Jazz had