Even though you try to be at peace, to what extent did not getting DPOY last season contribute to any motivation this season? (Adebayo made NBA All-Defensive second team for a second consecutive season and ranked fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting). Bam Adebayo: I feel like I’ve been the best defender in the last two seasons. There’s no excuse. The media doesn’t like hearing about undrafted guys. The media wants to hear about the No. 1 picks and the top picks. They want to watch them on TV. We have a team that is made up of almost all undrafted guys. It sounds like it’s a great story to talk about, but they don’t want to see it. It discredits us with what we’ve accomplished with making it to the Eastern Conference finals [last season]. It’s those little things. -via NBA.com / January 6, 2023

Spo (Heat coach Erik Spoelstra) said he’s impressed with how you balance your scoring and facilitating. How do you determine which approach to take? Bam Adebayo: It’s about reading the defense. That’s the biggest thing. You don’t want to have bad possessions where you just go one-on-one hard or make a shot harder than it’s supposed to be. You want to get an easy shot. I’m reading the game in that sense. We have a great point guard in Kyle Lowry. But in a sense, I also run point guard. So, I talk to Kyle about the flow of the game, how he’s reading things and looking at the clock. It’s those little things I’m paying attention to so I can manipulate the game. -via NBA.com / January 6, 2023

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo helped 10 high school students from Greensboro, North Carolina, with a holiday trip through his foundation last week. The 10 male students were treated to three action-packed days in Miami, where they had housing, three meals a day as well as receiving various tours. -via Miami Herald / January 3, 2023