Heat’s Bam Adebayo feeling disrespected over Defensive Player snub, and his ‘stunned’ coach agrees – The Denver Post

“Disrespectful.”

That was Bam Adebayo’s one-word summation when asked Monday about being snubbed for selection as one of three finalists for 2022 NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra took it a step further.

“I’m just really stunned that Bam is not a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year,” Spoelstra said of his fifth-year center. “I don’t know what people are watching.”

What could have been a moment of celebration, turned into something different, even after Spoelstra was named a finalist for Coach of the Year and guard Tyler Herro a finalist for Sixth Man of the Year.

“That’s probably the biggest disappoint, the one disappointment of the year,” Spoelstra said after Monday’s practice of Adebayo’s snub. “And that’s a…