Every once in a while, Sports have a beautiful way of captivating us, shocking us, making us question whether what we’re watching is real, or merely a simulation programmed in our minds.
That was the case Tuesday night between the Miami Heat and Washington Wizards.
None of the 19,700 fans in attendance entered Kaseya Center expecting history, nor did the hundreds of thousands — and even millions — of others tuning in.
Yet, nearly two-and-a-half hours, Bam Adebayo, all at once, collectively dropped all of our jaws. Everyone in the side Kaseya Center was on their feet with others not in attendance on the edge of their seat. You could hear a pin drop — yet the world was buzzing — when Bam Adebayo walked up to the free-throw line.
For a few minutes, the world was on pause. And Bam reached basketball immortality, becoming the second player in over six decades to score 80 points in a single game, smashing the Heat’s franchise record of 61 — previously held by LeBron James for a dozen years — in the third quarter.
Although the should-be consensus of appraisal wasn’t actually the consensus.
In the age of social media, not everyone can be satisfied. It’s long been a phenomenon. Not everyone can be pleased, impressed, euphoric, receptive of what we’re glancing at in real time — or even moments after.
The loud minority always has an opinion, a critique of even the smallest nitpick. Though, as it relates to Adebayo’s historic night, it drew the ire of many trying to discredit greatness. Many began to pile on the three-time All-Star for how he scored, when the Wizards ran out of any conceivable answers to slow him down.
Why none of us should care how we got there:
Let’s look back at history for a second.
Let’s not forget that when Chamberlain scored 100, both the Philadelphia Warriors (Chamberlain’s team) and the New York Knicks — the opposing team — were intentionally fouling each other to prevent Wilt from scoring. The Knicks were fouling everyone but Chamberlain (that happened Tuesday with Washington intentionally fouling Keshad Johnson), and the Warriors were returning the favor (Heat also did that twice) to save time.
Warriors head coach Frank McGuire even ripped his whole starting lineup outside of Chamberlain to accumulate such fouls; Chamberlain went 28-for-32 from the free-throw line, playing all 48 minutes in the Warriors’ 169-147 win.
Even in Bryant’s 81-point game, no Laker took a shot for the final seven minutes, with Bryant attempting 13 free throws in the fourth quarter, including seven in the final 2:36. There wasn’t as much “intentionally” fouling, but any Laker who even thought about attempting another shot was rightfully scolded.
In the end, do you know who cared about how either scored 80+?
Absolutely nobody.
So why the sentiment for Adebayo?
Is it because who he is as a player?
Adebayo grew up in a trailer park in North Carolina. He was the No. 14 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft without a jump shot. He was the player that many critiqued after the 2021 postseason for being hesitant to even look at the rim.
He’s the one player who’s continuously sacrificed himself offensively to do all the dirty work, to help uplift an otherwise OK cast of defenders to a top-5 defense every year. He’s the player who found a way to adapt to an offensive scheme that completely shifted away from him in recent years, moving away from dribble-hand-offs, pick-and-rolls or simple touches at the elbow.
This game was different.
Without Tyler Herro, Norman Powell and Kel’el Ware, Adebayo was *the* focal point of the offense.
After stringing together a smooth 43 points in the first half, he was being triple-teamed without the ball in his hands for the better part of the second half. He was being defended like he had 20 in a game of 21. The 6-foot-9 big, despite not have legs, continued to attack a compromised Wizards, continuing to put them in a position to foul.
What Adebayo did shouldn’t be viewed as an affront; it should be viewed as a historic achievement that deserves unanimous praise.
Because if scoring 83 was as easy or as “unethical” as everyone claims to be, then everyone would be doing it.
Instead, Bam Adebayo stands only behind Chamberlain’s 100, showcasing greatness while making history that nobody thought was conceivable 24 hours ago.
And that’s how it should be universally viewed because, at the end of the day, there’s no such thing as an ethical 80-point game.
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U know what they say in sports this is a copy cat league.It wouldnt surprise me if luka or some other dude went off for 84 in a game.the la haters are up in arms about bams 83.i said before the game me and rc with bam and co could prob beat this team.so mark your calendar when the wash generals come to town especially in la dont be surprised if somebody tries to break bams 83.great record for bam but thats just 1 game of 82.ive said for a while now bams biggest problem is between his ears.lets hope the mamba mentality is there every game and we have our desired ss.big game sat night versus orlando who has had our # lately .bams got to dominate wendell carter hes a much better player..
It would surprise me. I think, in the best of circumstances, reaching 80 points is extraordinarily difficult.
It would surprise me too, cuz most teams aren’t the wizards, and most coaches would take there star player out if it’s a blowout.
The previous high game against the Wizards this season was 48. If it was so easy, why haven’t other great players come close?
I am not in step with the consensus here. I thought Bam’s early play, particularly the first quarter, was spectacular and deserved all of the accolades. As the game went on it became Bam shooting free throws more than scoring baskets. It was stat padding and I understand how some fans, particularly Kobe fans, had a problem with it.
It’s more a problem with the officiating that is really more at the center of this very minor controversy. And that part is real and has always been, IMHO, the biggest issue the NBA has. Offensive players can initiate contact and get free throws and some players have become so adept at it that it becomes a little absurd. I have always wished charging was called more often, as it would improve the quality of the game. When the refs side with the offensive players, that is sometimes why defenders just give the scorer the ole defense. I know it’s hard to call, but when a player puts his head down and goes crashing into the lane like, for example, KAT, it’s pretty obvious and that player should not get away with it as much. And at the end of last night’s game, Bam was doing the same thing and got free throws on some plays when he had no chance of making a basket. So, it wasn’t really pretty basketball, and probably some nonHeat fans did not enjoy watching that. I can understand that.
There is nobody to remember much about Wilt’s 100 point game, but it was a different era and I imagine he was so physically dominant that his game was less padding. In fact, if I remember correctly, Wilt wasn’t a great free throw shooter.
The other perspective on this is that bam continuously attacked defenders who were responding to how well he shot in the first quarter.
The stories about wilts 100 all say that the game was very similar to the fourth quarter.
What I thought was a bit desperate was bam launching some of those threes. Even that was a response to how Washington was playing him.
I just looked at the stats and Wilt went 36 of 63 from the field in his 100 point game vs. the Knicks, and probably quite a few were dunks. But, he also went 28 of 32 from the free throw line, so he was apparently a very good free throw shooter. Final score Philly Warriors 169-147. And Wilt played the entire game and scored 31 in the 4th. So, maybe his stats were padded a little too.
He had a good game, but was an awful 51% free throw shooter for his career.
The game was relatively close until 6:43 left in the 4Q when the Heat were up 28. Bam had 71 at that point and the game within the game started around then – Miami trying to get him to 81 and Washington trying to stop him.
At the half it was a 14 point game and after the 3Q it was 16. Washington cut it to 13 early in the 4Q.
Detroit just lost a 23 point second half lead to a tanking Brooklyn team a few days ago – no 20 point lead is safe in today’s NBA.
Miami went into the game missing 71.6 points per game of their 120 average, with Powell, Herro, Wiggins and Ware out.
Washington also shot very well – 60.1% EFG, which is way above league average of 54.3%.
Miami actually needed most of those 83 points to win the game
Nice! On point. Did not watch the recap still lots of crazy stuff here. I’m saving it when its all quiet and its just me my snacks and healthy smoothie.
Exactly. The Wizards came back from large deficits several times in the game to get within 13-15 points.
Good points. Maybe because its Bam Adebayo. Not really a scoring machine but “just” an all-around player that nobody would really imagine. I’m sure I did not or anyone saw that coming. If it was Ant or Shai or Luka or Jokic… they’d give their proverbial flowers hands down. No matter what it is etched in the records. In the history books. In the annals of professional sports. I hope Bam scores 30+ in the next 2 games at least. And of course resulting in wins. To those crying about Bam’s record, get a tissue lol
I remember final Kobes game, when he scores 60 points. All nine players on the court help him to score. And his days being good NBA player were well behind him. That was all time circus, not Bams 83 points.
I remember that too. Everyone was getting out of his way and cheering him on to celebrate the end of a great career. I don’t recall anybody claiming it was not legitimate.
It was legitimate… as a final act of one of the greatest players of all time.
Basketball wise a bad animation of a real basketball game. Business wise well organized presentation of a legendary player, which brought a lot of money to somebody.
At least more then a half of Bams game was real basketball game, after that already lost basketball game with star still playing garbage minutes and his team mates searching for him.
Only final 3-4 minutes, his teammates, maybe referees and even players of opposing team played to help him get those 80 points.
I think I heard somewhere Kobi was the only Laker to shoot in the last 7.5 minutes of his 81 point game. Nobody will care how Bam got them, just as they didn’t care how Kobi got em. Numbers speak louder than words.
That story might not be true. Having h4l investigate the matter
One of the best write ups, I ever read in sports journalism. How, I wish I could read this commentary out loud in every sports channel. Good write up!.
Just a lot of people out there who don’t realize how good Bam is, still think of him as a defensive specialist, and look at counting stats (Bam’s 19/10) to decide how good someone is rather than watch what they are doing on the court. The Heat have an egalitarian/share the ball offense, but this game he needed to score (60% of the Heat’s scoring was out with injury). The Heat have a top 3 offense (119.3) this year in Bam’s minutes. No one expected 83 but it’s a lesson not to put limits on your game and not to define how good someone is through counting stats.
The haters are salty. Lol eff em
AMEN! Who cares what these haters think. Nobody cares who the opposition is when a record is broken. At least he wasn’t using steroids when he did it. There won’t be an asterisk next to Bam’s name, only a number…83!
No, they’re all correct. I’m sure that in the coming weeks we are going to see many players using the same guidelines against the same type of opponents and we will see multiple 80 point games as a result. Yeah, right, lol!