Bam Adebayo defended his historic 83-point performance after criticism surfaced over how the scoring milestone unfolded during the Miami Heat’s victory against the Washington Wizards. Speaking during a press conference on March 12, Adebayo addressed claims that his late-game scoring surge relied on questionable tactics.
“First of all, y’all are blaming me. You should be blaming their head coach,” Adebayo said. “Get that first. I was not the one that let me go one-on-one the whole game until I had 70, then you send the double (team). At that point, I had 70 with like nine minutes to go in the game. You think I’m not going for it?”
He continued, “And that’s the thing that’s crazy when they talk about the ‘unethical’ part of basketball. If I have 70 with nine minutes to go, who would be like, ‘You know coach, just take me out.’ Yeah right. Anybody in my shoes with nine minutes left? Okay. A minute, alright. Nine? Yeah I’m going for it.”
Adebayo delivered the historic outing during Miami’s 150–129 win over Washington on March 10 at Kaseya Center. His 83-point explosion surpassed the 81-point game recorded by Kobe Bryant in 2006 and now stands as the second-highest single-game scoring performance in NBA history, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain’s legendary 100-point game in 1962.
“You can’t be mad at that,” Adebayo said. “If you are mad, I don’t care because a lot of people are upset because if they did play they never got a chance to get that close to chasing greatness. And if you get that close to chasing greatness, that’s the point of chasing it, so you can surpass it.”
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The Miami Heat center also addressed criticism about his free-throw attempts during the game. Adebayo attempted 43 free throws in the game and made 36, both of which set NBA single-game records.
Wizards Coach Brian Keefe Calls Fourth Quarter ‘Not Real Basketball’
Brian Keefe, head coach of the Washington Wizards, criticized how the final stretch of the game unfolded. “They kept him in the game, and there were a lot of foul calls — 16 free throws in the fourth quarter,” Keefe said. “(We were) just trying to take the ball out of his hands.”
For the unversed, Miami led by 25 points in the fourth quarter while Adebayo had already reached 77 points. Erik Spoelstra kept Adebayo on the floor as Washington defenders increased pressure, at times sending multiple players to guard him.
Keefe described the fourth quarter as “not real basketball,” arguing that the Heat kept Adebayo in the game primarily to surpass Bryant’s scoring mark. The performance also drew reactions from media figures.
Jack Maloney of CBS Sports called the effort “an affront to the game.” Sam Amick of The Athletic reported that he spoke with “some of the people from (Kobe) Bryant’s past” who were unhappy with how the game unfolded.
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Spoelstra defended his decision after the game and said he had no regrets about leaving Adebayo on the court as the milestone approached.
