latest news: As the defensive quarterback for the Heat, Bam Adebayo cherishes his position.

If there’s such a thing as the Kia Defensive Player of the Year-in-waiting, Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo would be that guy.

He is the defensive signal caller on one of the league’s grittiest teams, riding that style to the NBA Finals in 2020 and 2023. Four times Adebayo, 26, has been named to NBA All-Defense teams, and the 6-foot-9 forward/center has finished in the Top 5 in DPOY balloting in each of the past four seasons.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has sanctioned the award as one worth chasing because of the good things that happen for the winner’s team. So Adebayo has been honest in his pursuit of it.

In the first in a series of interviews with candidates for this season’s DPOY, Adebayo spoke with NBA.com Wednesday about his role as Miami’s defensive leader and what’s required to thrive on that side of the ball. This Q&A is edited from that longer conversation:

Bam Adebayo: Aw man, I feel like as a team, we learned a lot of lessons this fall. We’ve had guys in and out of the lineups. We’ve had big leads and still lost games. We’ve been in close games and won. Individually, we’ve all grown from those lessons. Everybody has taken a step to improve by 1% in whatever that may be. That may be dealing with a back cut. It may be increasing your free throw percentage. Or anything. I feel like everyone has done something to get 1% better.

When guys are out, the biggest thing a defense will miss is talking. Every defense will have one or two people who are the most vocal. They are the heat that makes the engine run. As soon as a guy goes out, who has to step up and continue talking? That’s the problem I feel a lot of defenses run into because then you’re not on the same page. … When one of those guys goes down, everybody has to be more vocal.

Nah, defense has always been a part of me. That’s definitely how I got on the court in Miami. But I feel it comes from having that workhorse mentality. Being available and continuing to give the effort. That’s defense — effort, effort, effort. Like Spo says in the media sometimes, “multiple efforts.” It’s being willing to “burn that extra calorie and get there.” That’s what we say in practice.

Every rep matters. Being a technician on defense. Being in the right spot. Talking. Watching film, learning guys’ tendencies. It matters. When you get to the playoffs, you understand that the game slows up and goes possession by possession.