Why Bam Adebayo DESERVES All-NBA Buzz as Heat Takes Off in Standings

Miami's been on the roll lately.

The big part of that has been a surge from Bam and a bio,

getting it done on both ends in the court.

The numbers make a case for him being considered

an all NBA player this season.

Wes, does it get your vote?

I'll let you know.

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I'm Wes Goldberg host of Locked On NBA Daily

and Real Jam Radio.

I'm here with David Ramell.

Both of us are credentialed heat media members

who cover this team every day.

Jam Pack show for you today all about BAM at a bio.

And I want to start today talking about BAM

because you started the season off slow.

Mrs. The All Star Game for the second straight season.

And was drawing a ton of criticism

when the team wasn't playing well

and his numbers weren't very good.

But lately, David, quietly,

he's been great over the last couple of months.

Over the last 20 or so games,

he's averaging 22 and 10 on 45% shooting,

including 31.4% on threes

on one six, three point of times per game,

which is a bananas number.

And this was a number that was a stat

that was making the rounds yesterday on social media.

BAM is fifth and on off point differential.

Now the number that was really making the rounds

was second and on off point differential on Yokech

but there's been a couple of games

since then and stuff happened.

So now he's fifth but he's in that same ballpark

as a guy like Nikola Yokech,

who was like,

I joke that he invented on off

because he was always number one and on off numbers

for half a decade.

He's fifth and on off point differential.

Plus 11.3.

The heat are 11.3 points per 100 possessions better

when BAM is on the court when he's not.

That's behind Yokech and behind guys like Lamello Ball,

Donovan Mitchell and Julian Champenny.

Julian Champenny is a weird like his numbers

or his stats are always like a long

with Wembe Niamma or his minutes are.

So that's like a weird one.

You always got one of those things in there.

But Donovan Mitchell in the MVP conversation.

Lamello Ball playing for the league's hottest team

with the Charlotte Hornets.

And there's a lot of noise in some of these numbers.

But I think what it shows you is,

okay, he's in the conversation with guys like Yokech

and Donovan Mitchell,

who are going to be on the MVP

back on MVP ballots at the end of the season.

I'm not arguing that BAM is an MVP

but I think it does reflect just how good he has been

and moreover how important he has been

to this heat team lately.

We're seeing a version of BAM

that is playing like an all star

for the last couple of months.

And it's a big reason why the heat of the NBA's

fourth best record and second highest scoring margin

over the last month.

David, BAM's been a big part of that.

It's what fans have been hoping for

what they expected from him.

And I think the fact that he didn't live up

to those expectations early on just kind of re-emphasize

the concerns that a large portion of our fan base

has had regarding BAM.

And he's not a max player,

that he's not a guy you can count on, etc.

But I think the numbers bear it out.

I don't know if this has been a trend.

I mean, it's been a couple of seasons now

of BAM having this kind of late season surge.

And I don't know if it has to be,

it has to be an approach that he has

chosen to make to save himself a little early on

because I just don't understand how,

look, and I know there were reasons for it.

You know, at the start of the season,

the offense was changing.

The personnel had changed.

You're trying to figure your place

in the new offense.

That was a lot more fast pace,

a lot more three point opportunities, etc.

And he wasn't exactly fitting in.

So things did change.

They made some tweaks over the course of the season.

He bounced back from injury

and he's played much better as a result.

But it also feels like, you know,

he takes the foot off his,

off the gas a little bit earlier in the season

and then kind of just accelerates

as the season moves on.

So I think that is a part of it.

But having said all that,

that doesn't take away from the impact

that we've seen from him

over these last couple of weeks.

He's been phenomenal.

And the defense has been there.

I like that he has made a point to say,

you know what, I'm playing defense at a high level.

I know he was asked about the defensive player

the year candidacy, etc.

But he's made an incredible impact

on the defensive end for a number of years.

And I know that he takes pride

of being all on be a defender.

And he will be again this year.

I bet there's no doubt.

But now we've seen the offense

kind of surge a little bit as well.

And he's been great in that role.

He's figured out his place.

He's figured out a way to make an impact.

He's been aggressive,

which is what you want.

He's been gave into the line.

He's been doing a lot of the things

that fans have been clamoring for.

And I think the rest of the league has taken notice.

I think the stats that you pointed out

that kind of shows his impact on the court

in a way that makes it tangible

for a lot of the fans and meeting members

that might have kind of overlooked

bam over the course of season

because he did start off so sluggishly.

So there's no way of denying

how good bam has been.

Like he has been really, really good

and he has made a difference

in helping his team

get to where they are now in the East Coast standards.

I'm glad you brought up the fact

that he started the last couple of years off slow

because that is now becoming a troublesome trend.

I can't really remember why it was the case last year,

but I do remember his shooting percentage

was really low.

And just as it was sort of the beginning of this year,

now this year there, as you mentioned,

where am I going to fit in this new offense, right?

We got rid of the pick and roll.

We're also sort of,

we're trying to expunge the mid-range game

from the offense for the last couple of years.

And maybe that was a lot of a big reason

why that happened last year too.

This team just doesn't want to take

a bunch of mid-range shots

because they had been so over-indexed

on mid-range jumpers

over the last few years of the Jimmy Butler era

that they needed to go in another direction.

They needed to be more efficient

in terms of what their shot plot

was going to be at the end of these games.

More shots at the rim,

more shots from three-point range.

So when you spend two years of saying,

hey, all of that stuff that you worked on,

bam, we're going to get rid of all of that.

Right?

We're going to get rid of the mid-range thing

and we're going to get rid of the pick and roll.

So good luck finding where your offense is going to come from.

And that's why he ended up having

to really step out to the three-point line

was because that's really...

Most of where the offense is going to come from

is him getting the ball in the perimeter

and either deciding to shoot it from there

or drive to the basket.

And he's an improved three-point shooter

but he's not Tyler Huro from out there.

So it's not going to be efficient for him all the time

and he's going to be streaky.

Now, he has, like I said,

improved as a three-point shooter

that has been a big part of his game.

What stands out to me recently about him offensively

is that he's playmaking more.

They're getting out and transition more.

The defense is feeding offense

and that's giving bam an opportunity

to get into the open court

and make moves at the ball there.

And I think there's more confidence with his handle

and trying to get around, guys.

And then getting into the post,

we talked about this right out of the All-Star Break.

Right? That first weekend,

a couple of wins that they got against Memphis

and Atlanta, I think it was,

where all of a sudden,

we saw him getting fed in the post,

spin moves, many dream shakes.

There was that runner or baby skyhook

over Jalen Durin in the game on Sunday.

He's starting to get to the rim more

and do more than just your traditional postup,

although he will.

And just try to get to his finesse game

and try to use his touch a little bit more.

And that's what really stands out is,

look, the three ball has been there all year long.

It's been streaky,

but finding ways to find more

efficient offense closer to the basket,

I think they've unlocked something there.

And I think that's a big reason why

you're seeing the numbers.

But really, it's defensively, too, right?

It's not just the offensive numbers

that have obviously stood out,

but defensively,

the defensive rebounding rate

when he's on the court is sky high

and it has been historically.

They win the margin, but turn over margin.

They're winning that when he's on the court.

Right? They still push the pace when he's on the court.

Like, BAM has this way of filling in all the gaps

and accomplishing checking so many boxes

when he's on the court.

That's the underrated part about BAM

that you and I have been talking about for years now.

Yeah, I mean, there's no way around it.

I don't know, man.

Like, it's a conversation that I think needs to be had.

And I just, I also kind of feel like

fans don't want to hear it at the same time.

I don't know.

I feel like it's important for us to make the point.

And I know we're going to come across

BAM defenders or something along those lines.

And I feel like that's all unfair

because you see now how it's manifesting.

And it feels like the only reason why

people are a little bit more bullish

about BAM's reformers is because of the offense.

And so the defense has always been there.

And I think even the defense has almost been better,

I would say, over the last few weeks as well.

Like, he's definitely been playing

much more intensity, much more urgency.

The impact is undeniable.

Like, he's just everywhere defensively.

Like, to do, like, that play against Kobe White,

you know, that was with the Charlotte Hornets.

Like, that was such a big play.

And I hope that that kind of gets the notice that it should.

Like, that's a highlight reel in of itself.

And it's just, this is a player who gets so

largely ignored for all the things that he does.

But we've seen this for years and years.

It's just, if you can't appreciate what he does.

And I'm, you know, he made the statement himself

because he does not get blocked.

He won't get the kind of kind of consideration

that he deserves for defensive player of the year.

And I think that's been going on for far too long.

He is so impactful in that, and that's out of the ball.

Like, being able to erase shots from guys

that just would feel much more comfortable

being able to attack a big.

Like, it's not to say that it doesn't happen.

Players will still attack that

because they perceive it to be a mismatch

as it should be given BAM size.

But more often than not, BAM just erases possessions.

Like, they just don't exist.

They don't, they result in not a shot.

They just warranted saying, you know what?

I can't get past this guy.

I'm not even going to try.

I'm not, he's, he can match to be step-by-step.

And it's such a big part of what makes him such a strong defender.

So he doesn't have the kind of defensive stats

necessarily that might stand out to people.

But if you watch him for any long stretch of time,

like he's often, maybe even sometimes

the only defender out there on the floor for Miami.

Like, everybody's playing defense with a certain degree.

But he's such a stellar defender

that he just makes everything much more easily.

Like, he'll put a wall up between him and the rim

and forces a turnover from somebody else

who could afford to help and sag off

because the players committed thinking

that you're going to be able to drive into, you know, past BAM.

And I'll suddenly realize, oh, hell, I've got nowhere else to go.

And that leads to a turnover that way.

So, you know, even, even as other players

accrue statistics that help them defensively,

a lot of that stems from BAM's overall impact

and being very competitive.

There's, there's advanced stats for BAM too

that show like of all the big men in the league.

Nobody over the course of the last half-decade

has done a better job containing ball handlers,

switching onto smaller players than BAM.

And those numbers show up in turnover's forest.

In field goal percentage overall

and in all those kinds of things.

And structurally, what we're talking about is

BAM is not a classic drop defender.

The heat will play drop defense with BAM.

They'll do it, but they'll also play zone

and they'll switch everything.

They'll do, you know, multiple schemes here defensively.

But when BAM is able, what BAM is able to do,

where like somebody like Rudy Gobert, for instance, right?

Yeah.

Multiple defensive player of the year,

gets a lot of blocked shots.

He's always in drop.

And so, when you're always in drop

and you're hand out by the rim,

your job is to just block the shot, right?

To stand between the guy when he gets to the basket

and the basket.

And you're going to just accumulate a lot more blocks that way.

Whereas BAM's job is wholly different

than Rudy Gobert's job a lot of times,

where his job is to get out on the perimeter,

either head or show or just switch all together

and just stop that player from driving at all.

And so, instead of getting the block,

BAM gets like passes forest, you know what I mean?

Right.

And so, but that's not a stat, you know?

So, you know, those opportunities aren't there

for BAM as much because of what his strengths are.

Defensively, but of course,

what it takes nuance and watching basketball games

and watching heat games in particular,

to see that BAM was robbed of defensive player

the year when Marcus Smart won it.

I still don't understand why BAM didn't win it that year.

That was crazy to me.

He should at least have won.

That said, we're not done with award talk here on this program.

You and I agree he should definitely be

on the all defensive team.

That's not an interesting conversation to have.

Here's an interesting conversation.

Has BAM played his way

onto an all NBA team?

We'll talk about that next.

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Here's what I got for first team.

I've got Che, Yo Kitsch,

Victor Webinyama right now.

He's going to try to qualify.

I've got Cade,

and in my fifth spot,

I got Anthony Edwards.

For now, that could change.

Second team, I've got Donovan Mitchell,

who could also maybe make a play for first team,

Jalen Brown, who can also maybe make a play for first team.

Jamal Murray,

I've got Luca Donchic,

and I've got Jalen Brunson on my second team.

Does Donchic qualify?

I thought he was out.

Oh, Luca actually,

does Luca not qualify anymore?

I don't know.

I thought it may be a mistake.

That's very possible that he doesn't qualify anymore.

So either way,

I still think that Brunson's spot might be shaky,

and potentially that Luca spot might be shaky.

We should look up that Luca stat.

But for third team,

I've got a long list of players

who I've got as I think Tyrese Maxi

has to make one of these teams.

So he's also sort of in Sharpie

on an all on B.A. team for me.

And then really after that,

Kevin Durant,

I think he's played his way onto the all on B.A. team.

He's been great this year.

So I probably put Maxi and Durant

in Sharpie for an all on B.A. team.

I think it's pretty open after that, honestly.

So my shortish long list after that

is Kauai,

Carl Anthony Townes,

Jalen Johnson,

Scotty Barnes,

Devon Booker,

James Hardin,

Jalen Durin,

and Bam out of bio.

And you look at the names that I just read off there.

Bam has been as good as any of those guys.

Kauai, there's some games played issue.

The fact that the clippers aren't very good.

If you want to put Kauai on all on B.A.

because that tends to be more of an individual thing

than maybe MVP,

I would hear a lot of people say,

Kauai's got to be on all on B.A. about it.

So let's put Kauai on there

because his stats have been insane.

That still leaves

depending on what we find with the games played thing here.

Two to three more and all NBA spots available between towns.

Jalen Johnson,

Scotty Barnes,

Devon Booker, James Hardin,

Jalen Durin,

and Bam out of bio.

And I think you can make,

Bam has been as good as any of those guys that I've said,

that I mentioned there for those last couple spots, David.

Yeah, I think you can look at towns and

hard and right away and say that they probably don't have a strong case is.

I would agree.

Durin,

that's a trickier one

because obviously that's a similar position.

And I do think the narrative of,

well, this might be more of an individual award,

the context of being on the team

with the best record in the Eastern Conference, that matters.

And despite Bam having outplayed Durin

in their most recent matchup,

I don't think that that's something

that a lot of people are going to consider.

Like we already saw Durin get the all-start nod over Bam.

So I think that's going to be a tricky one.

As far as the other names in the list,

yeah, they all qualify.

They all have their strengths and their weaknesses.

I think a lot of that will depend on whether or not one of the players

that you mentioned the top specifically,

Luca, whether or not he feels the qualify.

If Kauai doesn't qualify because the games played,

then that opens up the floor a little bit more.

Luca, by the way, he can still miss five more games.

So he qualifies right now.

Okay.

Okay.

So yeah.

Bam, of that group,

I think I'm with you on Towns and Harden.

Right?

That's who you said?

Or Towns and Dues?

Yeah, Towns and Dues.

Harden got traded,

and that wasn't really his fault,

although maybe he also did maybe.

I just have a hard time.

Like you played for two different teams.

Like what am I supposed to do with that?

You know?

I think James Harden has been very good.

I would probably keep him off of my LNBA team.

That would be like a weird thing for me.

Towns has been so much of the solution in New York,

but he's also been so much of the problem

when things aren't going well.

That's a weird candidacy that I'd rather just leave him off

as good as some of the counting stats are with him.

And it hasn't been his strongest offensive season either.

So that leaves us with Jalen Johnson, Scotty Barnes,

Bam at a Devin Booker.

Jalen, is Devin Booker going to qualify?

I don't know.

He should, no, he should.

He came back, so he should be fine.

Bam, I would say the only player on this list

that's as good as defensively.

And I do think defense matters when it comes to LNBA.

It matters less when it comes to MVP sometimes.

Yeah.

But LNBA, this to me matters.

Like I want who are the 15 best basketball players

in the league this year?

That qualify.

And of that short list of Jalen Johnson,

Scotty Barnes, Bam Booker Durin,

I think the only one that can match Bam defensively

is Scotty Barnes.

Yeah.

And offensively, Booker is better, obviously.

Jalen Johnson is better, obviously.

That's really it.

Bam is as good as a team rebounder as Jalen Durin.

All right, Durin has better raw stats,

but Bam's defensive rebounding rate

when he's on the floor if the rebound is not out of the basketball.

He's played a ton of games in a bunch of minutes this year.

And he only has to, he can lose out to one of these guys

and still make it, right?

If we've got two spots available.

So what if we go Jalen Johnson and Bam,

you're leaving off Scotty Barnes,

which feels a little icky to me?

Yeah.

I'm kind of okay leaving off Jalen Durin and Devon Booker.

I guess the Durin thing is more of what he's a young player

and Kade being the MVP player that he is,

you wonder whether or not he'll take some of the shine off

of Durin's candidacy too.

I don't think there's a games.

I don't think there's a games played issue with Durin.

No, it's played a bunch.

Yeah, so I don't know.

It feels like he might be the one player Booker,

I think, because Phoenix has been kind of on the bubble a little bit.

Between him and Durin, I think those are the two weakest

and it's alongside Bam.

So that's pretty much where the race boils down to.

Can I ask a question, though, even as we're having this conversation?

I mean, is this one quick thing on the Bam Durin thing?

Bam, even outside of this win streak, this hot streak,

he's averaging more points per game.

Yeah, I know, more.

Basically the same amount of rebounds.

Like the shooting percentage is in his eye drawing,

shooting 63 percent overall,

but that's because all of this stuff is spoon fed to him by Kade.

That's probably a little unfair.

Jalen Durin does have a little bit more of a face-up game.

I love Jalen Durin.

He, by the way, might be my most improved guy

between him and Kade George.

I think Jalen Durin's been terrific.

Bam has even just if you go statistically,

Bam's case is right there with Jalen Durin's.

I agree.

I agree.

Go ahead.

But my question was, is this the conversation?

I know we're having it as media,

but do you think it's a consideration that Bam is having?

Does he want to make all NBAs?

Yes.

Is it okay?

And is it?

I don't know that.

So here's why I wanted to have this conversation

is because so much of this is going to be focused on,

like we're almost in a word season.

And I do have a worry that the heat and the,

and Bam are going to push just the defensive part of Bam

and just make sure that he gets back onto an all defensive team.

Because that matters a lot to Bam.

Bam wants to be a perennial all defensive guy.

And he is.

And he should be.

And he was unfairly left off last year.

But I think he's been better than that.

I think he should, for sure, be on the all defensive team.

You and I agree on that.

And I would, even if he doesn't make the all NBA team,

I think the more important part of this is that he's played

his way into that conversation.

That the conversation should not and cannot.

And this is my plea to the Miami Heat and Bam.

And everybody who's in charge of some of this, this, this push.

Which I guess we're part of it too, I guess.

Yeah.

Don't limit this conversation to all all defense.

We're done with that.

We're, we know it.

It's done.

He's all defense.

We've got that done.

He should be in the conversation for all NBA.

That's the conversation we should be having around Bam.

And I know for sure that Bam would love to make an all NBA team.

That is something that this guy has been open about the accolade.

He cares about the accolades.

He cares about being an all star.

He cares about the milestones.

He cares about, and I don't, I don't think it comes from a selfish place

that's so much as a pride play.

Like he wants to be part of the history of the history of this game.

You know, and, and this is the way to do it is you,

you get these accolades.

That's how your, your name gets kind of etched into the,

into the history books is, is doing these kinds of things

and accomplishing these kinds of things.

The, the, the part about the criticism of Bam though,

you mentioned this a couple of times.

If he did make an all NBA team,

would that be enough for him to overcome some of that criticism

and silence some of these critics?

We're going to talk about that next.

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Thanks again for making lockdown heat your first lesson every day.

Bamson playing really well lately.

The heater winning games, five game win streak.

They could climb as high as six, maybe even fifth

in the Eastern Conference.

Bamsatabios, we talked about going to be back

on the all defensive team.

May even be in the conversation for all NBA.

He's averaging 22 and 10 over the last month.

He's added a three point shot to his game.

Defensively, he's as good as he's ever been.

We talked about the elite stats now too.

The on-off point differential stuff.

Being in a conversational guys

on Nikolayokit and Donovan Mitchell.

What does Bams have to do

for that the perception of Bams

for his highest critics, his toughest critics,

to match the elite advanced stats

that we talk about all the time with this guy

and are even more elite and even better lately.

It has to be a combination of two things

and unfortunately it has about production.

And it's a game with 10 blocks close to several games.

I would say maybe with like seven blocks or more.

And also a game of 40 plus points.

Maybe even two games of 40 plus points.

And that's it.

That's what it boils down to.

Because 22 and 10,

those are great numbers.

And it sounds kind of ho-hum in today's game.

Again, we're talking about a perception

that is based on statistical evidence.

And the stats that we've mentioned

that support Bams candidacy

and showcase what he does defensively,

that doesn't even matter.

I don't even think the casual fan,

I don't even think they consider all NBA.

Really all-star games matter more

in that kind of conversation.

Not necessarily for your legacy

or for your place in the eventual Hall of Fame

or anything like that.

But I think for like your more casual fans

type of fans who probably hold a negative perception

of Bams and a bio.

It's like, bro, he wasn't even an all-star.

It hasn't been an all-star for two years.

It's like, okay, so Bams is already in the decline

from that perception

because he hasn't done anything.

Like he hasn't gone that kind of award

that stands out to your more casual fans.

You're talking about on-off numbers.

I don't even think most fans

or I think a large portion of fans I should say

don't even consider that.

And it's unfortunate

because I think this is a part of the conversation

that's expanding since we've been covering the league

to have these kind of greater statistics

that showcase exactly how good a player can be

at a nightly basis.

And I think Bams is deserving of that conversation.

And yet I don't know that a lot of more casual fans

will be willing to engage in that sense

because he doesn't have the numbers.

Now, again, if you have a 40-point game

against a team when it really matters

with play-off stakes in the line

or against a rival

or something along those lines,

that's when you're gonna say, oh, damn, he's got it like that.

Like that's what Bams is capable of doing.

And then if he has the blocks,

then that supports the undercurrent

of that he's a great defender

because he's got the numbers to back it up.

It's unfortunate and totally unfair,

but I think that's what really will stand out

in order to silence those critics.

These, the types of critics

that criticize Bams specifically,

they need to see that.

Otherwise, he's just gonna be like a good player

that does okay.

I'm with you.

They're a role player, right?

That's what he keeps getting labeled as.

I don't know that the blocks matter so much, right?

I think everybody knows he's great defensively.

As locally.

Like his horses,

his horses critics tend to be the local critics.

You know, heat fans who just want more of Bams.

I don't know, I think it just comes down to the offense, right?

Because even the guys who block a ton of shots,

if they don't score a lot of points,

they're still considered role players.

Like we know what Bams is defensively.

Like everybody, like even the critics understand

that Bams is good defensively.

Like, to me, it's the points.

And I go back,

he averaged 20 points of game

once in his entire career.

The 2022-23 season,

his most bona fide of his all-star years,

shot 54% overall,

20.4 points per game,

9.2 rebounds per game,

a little bit more than three assists.

Those aren't superstar numbers,

but it's 29.

It's 20 points per game.

And I do think for the casual fan,

just hitting that 20 point per game number matters.

Like, oh, that's a 20 point per game score.

And I would argue even,

like to consider Bams a real superstar,

you have to almost average more than 20 points.

20 points is not what it used to be.

But since then, it's 19 points, 18 points,

and 18 point nine this year.

And I do think that there's something to be set up.

Okay, cool, like Bams start off slow,

he's hot right now, like do it for a whole season.

I think there is a lot of fairness in that.

Do it for a whole season offensively,

and then I'll have this conversation with you.

Average 20 or more points per game, another season.

Do it again, get back to that level offensively.

I think that is a totally fair ask of a fan base.

I think it's totally fair.

I do think it'll happen for the record.

I think it'll happen next year.

It could happen this year, right?

He's at 19 points per game.

We got another 20 games left,

like this could last less than 20 games left.

He could get there with a few more big games

if he keeps playing like this.

I will say before, besides just maybe averaging

20 points per game in a season,

I think he needs to do this in a playoff scenario

to really silence the harshest of the critics.

He needs to look like a number one option

for a team that wins a playoff series.

And I don't know that, frankly, he can do that.

And I don't know that that's even fair,

but to answer the question of to silence

the harshest of the critics,

it's probably that,

but I do think that if eventually he's averaging

20 points per game,

a couple of years in a row

with all the defensive stuff that we know him to be

and to get a superstar level player to pair with him,

who is the number one option on a team

that can win a playoff series,

then I think all of a sudden that criticism fades

from BAM in a major way.

And that's what I think it would ultimately take.

Yeah.

I think BAM is one of those players

who will probably be remembered

more fondly in hindsight.

Assuming, and I think this is another part too,

that he has to play for a championship.

Like, for, look, I've covered,

I've covered the lead for a while with you.

Obviously, I've followed the NBA for a long time.

And so you just think of a player like,

in my hand, I'm thinking Dennis Rodman.

Like, what is it that separates Dennis Rodman,

who was a terrible offensive player?

Like, flatly, terrible offensive player

didn't give a damn about that.

And he was perhaps the best rebounder in NBA history.

And he was a role player, but he's remembered fondly.

Not just for the off-the-core antics or anything like that,

but he's remembered for what he did.

He did as a defender or rebounder, et cetera.

But he played for the Detroit Pistons.

He won two rings there.

He played for the Chicago Bulls.

He won rings there.

That's what separates him.

And so, like, even the conversation

about something like Dremont, you know?

Like, Green played in title games

and did what he did to win a title.

And he was there, and he played alongside Steph Curry

and Clay Thompson, et cetera, in order to win those rings.

But nobody can take that away from him.

It was a four-time champion.

Namibia does not have anything to support his recognition

as being one of the best players in the NBA

that is effectively an excellent role player,

an elite role player.

And I think that counts for something.

Like, I appreciate Dremont Green's game.

I really do.

I have for a long time, and I know you do as well.

Like, you need players like that in order to win championship.

You can't just be the other end of the spectrum.

Like, everybody wants the production from BAM.

Look at what?

If you were that, then you're a player like Devin Booker

who was earlier in his career, wherever,

which is kind of like these are empty calories.

Look at, yeah, look at Phoenix.

Durant and Booker and Beale.

You don't think they, that team is a lot different

to have, they had somebody like BAM

as the backbone of a defense and the rebounding

and all that, to do all those things.

You need guys like BAM to win championship.

Maybe that's what it'll, if BAM wins a championship

with the heat, then you don't apologize for anything, right?

Brian Winhorse says this all, when you're a champion,

when you're a champion, you never have to say sorry.

And you can say, you can have a,

you can have a problem with me averaging 18 points game

instead of 21 points per game.

You can have a problem with this, that or the,

whatever it is, my, my salary, whatever.

If you win a championship with BAM

as one of the top players on that team.

Yep.

Proof of concept.

Yeah.

Right? Who cares what your stats are?

You did the thing that you're out there to do

win a championship.

And maybe that's ultimately what the answer here really is.

Thanks so much for tuning in today to Lockdown Heat.

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