2023 NBA Finals Preview: Ranking players from SEC

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - MARCH 13: Jamal Murray #23 of the Kentucky Wildcats puts his arm around head coach John Calipari after defeating the Texas A&M Aggies in the SEC Basketball Tournament Championship at Bridgestone Arena on March 13, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. Kentucky defeated Texas A&M 82-77 in overtime. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /

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Kentucky Wildcats center Bam Adebayo (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

2. Bam Adebayo

Adebayo is arguably the best defensive player in the 2023 NBA Finals and is tasked with the tallest order of any player in this series with guarding Nikola Jokic.

Defending Jokic effectively is something that doesn’t have much precedent.

Rui Hachimura was an interesting play that messed up Jokic’s rhythm for a quarter. And it allowed Anthony Davis to roam but it stopped being effective as the series wore on.

The Lakers ended up putting Davis back on him and pretty much decided to live with the fact that despite his defensive prowess, he couldn’t stop him, instead he could only hope to contain him.

For the Heat, Adebayo will get the call in Game 1. There is not a chance he doesn’t get his shot at the two-time MVP.

But if Jokic tears him up like he did the Lakers in the opening half of Game 1 in the Western Conference Finals, they’ll need a back up plan.

It could play out as the most interesting matchup of the series. Adebayo is a mobile big man who is “only” 6-foot-9-inches tall. Much more of the Hachimura build rather than Davis, which should play to his advantage.

College Days

At Kentucky, Adebayo led the Wildcats to an SEC Title, a number one seed in the tournament, and made it all the way to the Elite Eight.

For the year he averaged 13.0 points per game, 8.0 rebounds per game, and 1.5 blocks per game while being named Second-team All-SEC as well as to the SEC All-Freshman team.

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