The NBA world went head over heels when Bam Adebayo took over and dropped 83 points on the Wizards last night in the Heat’s 150-129 win.
Adebayo filled the statsheet with 83 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks. He shot 20-43 from the floor (46.5 FG%), 7-22 from three-point range (31.8 3P%), and 36-43 from the free-throw line (83.7 FT%).
But a common sentiment that also came up was that players and analysts questioned the ethics behind the way in which Adebayo broke the record by staying late in a blowout game. Among the NBA players who were not very impressed with Adebayo was the French wonderkid, Victor Wembanyama.
“Yeah, I saw…….. I think we’re in a league where there is plenty of inspiration to look up to, but yeah, I saw,” said Wembanyama when asked if Adebayo’s 83-point night inspired him to score more.
And his reaction to the Heat center’s performance struck some nerves. For one, Nick Young, the former NBA champion, was not very happy about Wembanyama’s lack of enthusiasm. Despite criticizing Adebayo himself, Young called out Wembanyama for being biased against Americans.
“But he cried when he came back from down 24, this sh** is crazy! I’m tired of this sh**.”
“He was not impressed with that, but he cried and was impressed with comebacks… You couldn’t believe you made a comeback against the Clippers?… He hates Americans,” said a frustrated Nick Young on the Gilbert Arenas show.
Young lost his temper and seemingly felt that Wembanyama’s opinion was coming from a biased lens against American players. He had to be calmed down by Rashad McCants and did not elaborate on his claim.
In an era when the league office is looking to make the league go global, the media narratives are often twisting it towards the USA against the World. All prominent international players are coming under their scrutiny as a result.
Young’s take represents the kind of criticism that Wembanyama has also faced, along with the positive feedback, since the All-Star weekend. This performance and his reaction on the face of it have nothing to do with nationality.
An alternative explanation could be that we can trace the nature of his comments back to Bam Adebayo’s response when he downplayed his teammate Davion Mitchell’s comments, who called Wembanyama a “generational talent” before a preseason matchup.
“I feel like we are all generational talents. There are 450 of us in the NBA, so it’s great for all of us to be out there… I’m not that absorbed in Wembanyama’s life, I imagine he took that next step,” said Adebayo when asked about Wembanyama in October 2025.
Later, Adebayo also downplayed Wembanyama’s height, saying people forget Boban Marjanovic and other tall players have also been in the league.
Therefore, Wemby was keeping up the competitive energy by downplaying his competition’s achievement. A much simpler explanation than jumping to nasty conclusions on the French star.
If he is keeping up the same competitive energy, then this matchup will be must-see when the Heat face the Spurs in Miami on Monday, March 23.
