On Tuesday evening, the Miami Heat became the center of attention in the NBA world when center Bam Adebayo scored an astonishing 83 points in a home win over the Washington Wizards. The scoring outburst moves Adebayo past Kobe Bryant, who famously scored 81 points 20 years ago, for the second-most points of all time, behind only Wilt Chamberlain, who had 100 in a game.
Almost immediately after the game was over, some fans on the internet, particularly fans of Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, began searching for ways to discredit Adebayo's performance, with some pointing to the over 40 free throw attempts that the star shot in the game, as well as the fact that the outburst occurred against the tanking Washington Wizards.
Things got strange late in this one, with the Heat opting to keep Adebayo in the game well into blowout territory in an attempt to hunt the record. The Wizards then began fouling Adebayo's Heat teammates to put them on the line in order to prevent Adebayo from scoring, after which Miami players started intentionally missing free throws in order to get the ball back to him.
This, contrasted with Bryant's game against the Raptors, in which the Lakers were trailing for most of the evening and needed just about every one of the star's 81 points in order to win, has led some to conclude that Bryant's historic game was more “ethical” than what Adebayo produced.
While this may be true in the purest basketball terms, that still shouldn't take away from what Adebayo was able to accomplish. The star had 31 points in the first quarter alone, and it's also important to note that 29 other teams play the Wizards, and no one has come close to matching the output that Adebayo had.
It's also worth remembering that Chamberlain was reported to have stat-padded heavily in his effort to get to 100 points, with the opponent even intentionally fouling him themselves in order to get him on the line.
Years from now, most fans will likely remember Adebay's Herculean point total, and not the means by which he got there, even if they look a bit sketchy at the moment.
