Bam Adebayo NBA record 83 under suspicion

The name of the day in the NBA is Bam Adebayo. The Miami Heat center has become the player with the second-highest scoring performance in a single game in NBA history. His 83 points against the Washington Wizards stand as a feat surpassed only by Wilt Chamberlain’s legendary 100. Yet the milestone has not convinced everyone.

Several voices in the United States have downplayed what happened – not because of the number itself, which will forever be etched in the record books, but because of how it was achieved.

Questions raised over Bam 83

“What Bam did over three quarters… incredible. Keeping him on the floor when you’re already blowing out the opponent even seems fine to me. Intentionally making mistakes to get more possessions and inflate the stat line until you can pass Kobe is some of the tackiest stuff I’ve ever seen,” wrote one user on X. The comment referred to what unfolded in the fourth quarter, with the game already decided and the Heat committing fouls and launching quick three-pointers so the clock would run more slowly – a tactic that has drawn heavy criticism. “Apparently it’s disrespectful when someone in the NBA scores a late basket when the game is over and nothing is at stake, but it’s not disrespectful for a team leading by 28 to drag out a game to manufacture a dozen extra possessions by fouling and creating 15 extra points for one player,” another X user wrote.

• Bam: a nickname inspired by The Flintstones and the dream of playing for the Hornets

The numbers are these: 83 points, 20-for-43 from the field, 7-for-22 from three and 36-for-43 at the free-throw line.To begin with, he is the only player in history to reach 70 points while shooting under 50% from the field. How is that possible? Free throws. The 36 made and 43 attempted are both all-time records for a single game. Only seven other players in history had ever attempted 30 or more free throws. By comparison, the free-throw totals in other scoring explosions this century were far more modest. When Kobe Bryant scored 81 in 2006, he went 18-for-20. Luka Dončić’s 73 in 2024 came with a 15-for-16 night. Damian Lillard’s 71 in 2023 included 14-for-14, while Joel Embiid’s 70 in 2024 featured 21-for-23.

And the comparisons continue. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, in regular-season games, never attempted more than 27 free throws. Only 14 entire teams this season have gone to the line more often in a game than Adebayo did on this night. The Boston Celtics – one of the league’s gold standards over the past five years – have not attempted 43 free throws in a game for a decade. Adebayo went to the line more times in this game than Dwyane Wade did in the entire 2006 Finals. “The fourth quarter wasn’t a real basketball game,” Wizards head coach Brian Kefee said afterward.

Playing against Washington – by far one of the worst teams in the league – is another factor frequently cited to explain the performance. Perhaps no one put it more bluntly than Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka, who was asked about Adebayo’s 83-point night, as seemingly everyone around the NBA has been. “The first thing you think is how… not because of him, but because of how he plays. I saw he only made six threes, but had 40 free throws or something like that, which says it all… and the Washington Wizards,” he said after a brief pause.

Before this game, Adebayo’s best scoring performance of the season had been 32 points on Jan. 22. Looking across the list of players who have reached 70 points in a game – now 11 including the Heat center – he is the one averaging the fewest points per game that season, at 20. The only other player on that list with a similar average is Devin Booker, who was scoring 22.1 per game at the time. Everyone else averaged at least 27, all the way up to Chamberlain’s otherworldly 50.4 – a figure from another era.

Get closer to the game! Whether you like your soccer of the European variety or that on this side of the pond, our AS USA app has it all. Dive into live coverage, expert insights, breaking news, exclusive videos, and more. Plus, stay updated on NFL, NBA and all other big sports stories as well as the latest in current affairs and entertainment. Download now for all-access coverage, right at your fingertips – anytime, anywhere.

And there’s more: check out our TikTok and Instagram reels for bite-sized visual takes on all the biggest soccer news and insights.