Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo asserted that his historic 83-point game against the Washington Wizards could have surpassed Wilt Chamberlain’s legendary 100-point record if not for a subpar shooting night from beyond the arc. Speaking on the Makeshift Hoops podcast, Adebayo reflected on the March performance that saw him eclipsing Kobe Bryant’s 81-point mark from 2006 to record the second-highest single-game scoring output in NBA history, behind only Chamberlain’s 1962 milestone with the Philadelphia Warriors.
An 83-Point Night Marred by Missed Triples
Adebayo scored his 83 points largely on the strength of getting to the free-throw line, where he converted 36 of his 43 attempts against Washington. Despite the heavy foul count, the 29-year-old big man pointed to his perimeter struggles as the primary barrier preventing him from catching Chamberlain’s all-time record. Adebayo shot 7-of-22 from three-point range during the contest, finishing 20-of-43 overall from the field.
“The thing is—and it’s funny and I joke with my guys—is that I made 83 on a bad shooting night if you really look at it (7/22 on triples),” Adebayo said on the podcast. “I would have passed Wilt. Now, that would have been a completely different story, I don’t even know how to log that. I thought it could be done. When Kobe explained his 81, it’s like you have to be in the best shape of your life and just have a good day, everything has to click.”
Chasing History Despite the Criticism
The performance generated considerable debate due to the game context. The Miami Heat secured a 150-129 victory against a struggling Washington Wizards squad, and head coach Erik Spoelstra kept Adebayo on the floor late in the fourth quarter specifically to chase the scoring milestone. By contrast, Bryant’s 81-point game for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Toronto Raptors in 2006 remained in the balance until the final five minutes, and Bryant attempted only 20 free throws.
Critics also pointed to Adebayo’s 43 free-throw attempts as an outlier, but the Miami center defended the physical nature of the game. “If you actually watch the whole game and not just the last minute and a half, I was fouled the whole game,” Adebayo stated, noting that the Wizards eventually deployed up to three defenders on him in the closing stretches.
Addressing those who suggested he should have halted his scoring pursuit at 81 to honor Bryant, Adebayo was blunt. “People were telling me, ‘Man, you should have stopped at 81.’ Why? So you can never mention me? Because I already know how Kobe fans are, I’m a fan of Kobe. We’re not going to remember it. Bam who? Did we forget about him? I know and I understand. And it was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going for it,'” he said. He added that reaching 70 points with nine minutes remaining left him with a clear choice under Spoelstra: either head to the bench or push forward for a rare piece of NBA history.
Next Steps for Miami
The Miami Heat enter the new NBA calendar turning the page on a difficult campaign that ended in the play-in tournament following two first-round playoff exits, bolstered by the arrival of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
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