From one defensive specialist to another, P. J. Tucker got Bam Adebayo’s back in the Defensive Player of the Year contest this season. 

As such, the 36-year-old veteran explained how significant his teammate’s defense was during those crunch times and in the whole duration of every match – making it the basis for Adebayo to claim the honors. 

“In this new era of basketball, being a center who can guard guards is key,” P.J. Tucker said about Adebayo, via Couper Moorhead in NBA.com. “It’s key to fixing a lot of things and being able to take people out of their offenses and making them do what you want them to do. That’s the key to defense.”

“You can’t be the Defensive Player of the Year if you can’t play in most fourth quarters. That’s insanity to me,” Tucker said, referencing how the game has changed with teams like Brooklyn playing Kevin Durant at the five in closing lineups. “Just look at fourth quarter lineups, that’s the game.”

Built by notable elite defenders in the game and consistent marksmen from the field, the Heat won’t be as much as successful without Adebayo’s threatening presence down the paint with his stellar two-way play. Right now, he is averaging a career-high 19.2 points per game, to go along with 10.2 boards, 3.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocks. Via StatMuse, he also has 103.7 defensive rating and a 3.7 defensive win shares. 

Even though the race is filled by favorites like Rudy Gobert, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Mikal Bridges, looking at Adebayo’s impact on the Heat’s productive season is a considerable one for him to include in the conversation. In other way around, the competition will be intense for the upcoming days to come.