Recently, one of the major talking points of the NBA has been whether or not the Miami Heat violated some of basketball's unwritten rules when center Bam Adebayo scored 83 points in a game against the Washington Wizards, passing Kobe Bryant for second-most of all time. Many critics have pointed to Adebayo's 43 free throw attempts, as well as some bizarre late-game strategies from the Heat, as reasons to discredit the scoring explosion.
However, one person coming to Adebayo's defense is former NBA guard Patrick Beverley, who recently took to X, formerly Twitter, to relay his thoughts on the debate.
“I never knew there was a fake 83. A motherf***** never scored 83, how could it be fake? That’s as real as it gets… People were just shocked it was Bam and it wasn't a Steph Curry, LeBron James… If KD had the same 83 with the same statistics, they wouldn’t treat it like that. It was just shocking to people that Bam did it… Bam's a top 3 big in the NBA. Been a top 3 big… I don’t know what the surprise is,” he said, per Heat Central on X.
Indeed, many were surprised that it was Adebayo, who was averaging less than 20 points per game prior to the game, who ended up breaking Bryant's second-place mark, and not one of the more high octane scorers in the NBA landscape.
However, it goes to show just how talented NBA players truly are… and how bad the Wizards' defense truly is.
Meanwhile, the Heat are looking to bounce back after losing two straight games on the heels of their seven-game winning streak. They will next take the floor on Thursday evening for a home game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
