Udonis Haslem mentored Heat big man Bam Adebayo as teammates.

Haslem clearly supports his old colleague after retirement. Despite being one of the NBA’s finest defenders, Adebayo has never won Defensive Player of the Year. Haslem addressed Adebayo’s nomination on ‘The OGs’ with Mike Miller. He subsequently reaffirmed it on social media.

Haslem commented on his X comments, “@Bam1of1 is the league’s finest defensive player. He’s rude and hasn’t won a dpoy.”

Adebayo averages 1.1 steals and 1 block this season.

“He’s been ignored. Talk about it. My take on it. Please, no rudeness. If this offends you, don’t watch my (expletive) program. “No disrespect to Marcus Smart or anyone else, but nobody in the league can guard five positions like this guy can, and impact the game,” Haslem stated on his podcast with Adebayo. “The NBA has few two-way players statistically. The data support it. His stats are as high as anybody else when he guards players one-on-one.”

Adebayo and Haslem’s bond will strengthen when they play in the NBA.