Luka Doncic recorded his first 50-point game for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 142-130 win over the Chicago Bulls at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday. While it was an incredible outing, it could have been a bit more special.
Doncic needed just one more assist for a 50-point triple-double, but committed an intentional foul and took himself out of the game with 1:41 left in the fourth quarter. As the Slovenian headed out, the Lakers’ play-by-play announcer Bill Macdonald looked to be throwing some shade at Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo.
“So he’s not chasing numbers,” Macdonald said.
Luka Doncic subs himself out one assist shy of a 50-point triple-double, Lakers announcer: “He’s not chasing numbers.”pic.twitter.com/jJTufqTrCo
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) March 13, 2026
Lakers’ color analyst Stu Lantz agreed with Macdonald as well.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, Adebayo has come under fire for the manner in which he passed Lakers icon Kobe Bryant for the second-highest scoring game in NBA history. Bryant had scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006, and the Heat big man got to 83 against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.
Adebayo had hit the 70-point mark with the Heat leading 127-105 with 9:05 remaining in the fourth quarter. The game was all but over, but he stayed in so he could go past Bryant. That alone would have been bad enough in the eyes of some, but there was a lot more.
The Heat resorted to fouling the Wizards down the stretch to stop the clock. Forward Keshad Johnson also intentionally missed a free throw so that Adebayo could get the ball. Speaking of free throws, Adebayo went 14-16 from the line in the fourth quarter. He went 36-43 on the night and set a new NBA record for free throws made and attempted in a game.
All of this has led to Adebayo’s achievement being diminished. Bryant’s former teammate Robert Horry believes there needs to be an asterisk here. Nick Young, another former teammate, also ripped Adebayo for not subbing himself out.
As for current NBA stars, San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama didn’t seem all too impressed by Adebayo’s performance. The likes of LeBron James were fired up for him, though, so it wasn’t all negative.
With all this backlash coming his way, Adebayo tore into his critics. It is a real shame that the 28-year-old has this incredible game, and people are just focusing on the negatives.
For Adebayo to get to 70 that early in the fourth is remarkable. Was the end of the game pretty? Absolutely not, but you can’t be too hard on someone for trying to rack up points in that situation. Adebayo is probably never going to have a game anywhere near that good, and he decided to go for it. People can say whatever they want, but it won’t change the record books.
Getting back to Doncic, he should have had a 50-point triple-double here. The six-time All-Star had found Rui Hachimura in the corner with over two minutes remaining in the fourth, but the Japanese forward missed a wide-open three-pointer. Doncic then hilariously called out Hachimura after the game for costing him a 50-point triple-double.
“It was Rui’s fault,” Doncic said, via NBA. “He missed on purpose. Tell him.”
Doncic finished with 51 points (17-31 FG), 10 rebounds, nine assists, three steals, and one block on the night as the Lakers improved to 41-25 on the season. They’ll take on the Denver Nuggets next at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
