Miami Heat centre Bam Adebayo scored 83 points against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday, the second-highest total in NBA history, surpassing Kobe Bryant's 81 and trailing only Wilt Chamberlain's 100. The Heat won 150-129, but the achievement has sparked debate over whether it was genuine brilliance or a product of stat padding.
Adebayo took 43 field goals, not a major outlier compared to Chamberlain's 63 and Bryant's 46, and added nine rebounds. However, his 43 free-throw attempts set a new NBA record, breaking the previous mark of 39 held by Dwight Howard. Adebayo made 36 of those free throws.
Criticism centres on the fourth quarter, where Miami, leading by nearly 30 points, repeatedly fouled Washington to regain possession and feed Adebayo. He shot 3-of-8 from the field and 1-of-6 from three-point range in the quarter, but made 14 of 16 free throws. In the final five minutes, he went 1-of-5 from the field and 7-of-7 at the line, with his last points coming with 1:16 left to make it 150-126.
Coach Erik Spoelstra substituted Adebayo eight seconds later. While some view the performance as extraordinary, others see the late-game tactics as a farce designed solely to inflate his statistics.
