Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo made history in their dominant 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center on Tuesday. Adebayo erupted for 83 points on the night and, in the process, passed Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant for the second-highest scoring game in NBA history.
Bryant had famously scored 81 points for the Lakers against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006, and their fans didn’t take the news of Adebayo going past him all too well. The Lakers’ PA announcer shared that piece of information at Crypto.com Arena before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the fans in attendance broke into boos.
View this post on Instagram
This was somewhat to be expected, regardless of who went past Bryant. The manner in which it was done, though, is what probably annoyed Lakers fans.
Adebayo went 20-43 from the field, 7-22 from beyond the arc, and 36-43 from the free throw line. That’s a ridiculous number of free throws, and a big chunk of them came in the fourth quarter when the Heat employed some interesting tactics.
Adebayo was unsurprisingly fed the ball every time down the stretch, but the Heat also fouled to stop the clock. Keshad Johnson even intentionally missed a free throw at one point so the three-time All-Star could get the ball.
In all, Adebayo, who was also foul-baiting just a little bit, went 14-16 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. That’s about as many as Bryant shot in the whole game against the Raptors. The late great Lakers icon went 28-46 from the field, 7-13 from beyond the arc, and 18-20 from the line that night.
So, Adebayo has been accused of going past Bryant in “unethical” fashion. Ultimately, though, it doesn’t matter how the 28-year-old did it. All the record book will show is that he has the second-highest scoring game ever. The only man ahead of him is, of course, Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962.
Will Chamberlain’s record ever be broken? Well, Adebayo has shown that anything is possible. He is undoubtedly a great player, but he isn’t exactly a force on the offensive end. Adebayo’s previous career-high was 41 points, and if he can breach the 80-point mark, well, then someone could get to 100 someday.
While Lakers fans are upset about Bryant being passed, Adebayo’s peers were hyped about his getting to 83. It is a phenomenal accomplishment.
Adebayo had 31 points in the first quarter, 12 in the second, 19 in the third, and 21 in the fourth. He understandably got emotional postgame when discussing what he had just achieved.
Bryant was Adebayo’s idol growing up, so it meant just that little bit more to him as well. To go with those 83 points, he put up nine rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks to help the Heat improve to 37-29 on the season.
As for the Lakers fans, they at least got to see their team win, too. They beat the Timberwolves 120-106 to improve to 40-25 on the season.
