LeBron James earned All-NBA Defensive First Team for Miami for 3 consecutive seasons.
The Miami Heat have seen plenty of excellent defenders play for the franchise, especially at the center position. Let’s dig into their record books and discuss the three players in team history who have been named to an All-Defensive First Team.
LeBron James – 3 times (2011, 2012, 2013)
James is the only non-center on this list. He spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Cavaliers, being named All-Defensive First Team two times. He then joined the Heat prior to the 2010-11 season and went on to be named All-Defensive First Team in each of his first three seasons with the team. In two of those seasons, he was also named regular-season MVP.
James would eventually play four seasons with the Heat. In the one season that he didn’t make All-Defensive First Team with the Heat, he was named to the All-Defensive Second Team. Across 294 career regular-season games with the Heat, James averaged 26.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.7 steals.
Alonzo Mourning – 2 times (1999, 2000)
Mourning was not only named All-Defensive First Team two times while a member of the Heat, but he also won the Defensive Player of the Year award in both campaigns. In 1998-99, he led the league with 3.9 blocks per game, while also averaging 20.1 points and 11.0 rebounds.
He also led the league with 3.7 blocks per game in 1999-20, while also averaging 21.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Mourning would eventually play 593 regular-season games across two separate stints with the Heat. He averaged 16.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.7 blocks with the franchise. For his entire career, he averaged 2.8 blocks per game.
Bam Adebayo – 1 time (2024)
The Heat selected Adebayo with the 14th pick in the 2017 Draft. He played sparingly during his first two seasons, never averaging more than 23 minutes per game. He became a permanent starter in 2019-20 and immediately made the All-Star team. He averaged 15.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.3 blocks while being named All-Defensive Second Team and finishing fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Adebayo went on to make All-Defensive Second Team and finish inside the top-five in Defensive Player of the Year voting in each of the following three seasons.
In 2023-24, he made All-Defensive First Team for the first time in his career, averaging 19.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks. He also finished third for Defensive Player of the Year. A current member of the Heat, Adebayo has averaged 15.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks for his career entering the 2025-26 season.
