The Heat have had a couple big losses to bad teams, so Bam Adebayo finds himself once again left off of the top 10 on basketball-reference’s MVP tracker, replaced by Kemba Walker. Talk about a snub, if I’m Adebayo, I’m on the phone with those dudes telling them to get their algorithms in order.
Casual fans may not see the MVP-ness of Adebayo this season, but a statline of 15/10/5/1.5/1.5 on a really good team is totally MVP quality. Assuming that this is the NBA of about 10 years ago where almost no one was scoring 20 points per game, that there are literally no star players on any of the 30 teams, and MVP voters value all-around proficiency over mindless scoring. Assuming all those things, Adebayo could totally be MVP.
As it stands, we’re in a league where outrageous statistical feats are being performed on a nightly basis by tons of players, so he’ll have to settle for the MIP Improved Player award. It’s telling that this performance of 20/8/6 on near-perfect shooting doesn’t even feel that good for him this season. Last season, this would be a bonanza. This season, it’s just more of the same. Sounds like MIP to me!