Ahead of a game against the Bucks on Thursday, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra reflected on Bam Adebayo’s historic night. While the star was unstoppable from start to finish, those last points definitely were not needed to win the game, and some naturally expected him to be pulled out of respect or competitive integrity. Nevertheless, Spo kept him in the game anyway, in a decision that he’s not apologizing for.
“I apologize to absolutely no one,” said Spoelstra. “Going into the game, it’s a Tuesday night game against a team where they’re not playing for anything, where their organization is trying to lose, we’ve already lost the game in that kind of situation. We have players that are sitting out, and I spoke to Bam about what I want as our team captain, to be locked in and ready, and he sure was.”
Kobe Bryant’s 81-point night came very much within the flow of the game, and he actually led his team from behind to lead them to victory. For Adebayo, the performance was undeniably forced, as he played 41 minutes in a blowout win. He also attempted 43 shots, nearly half as many as the Wizards attempted as a team. Still, Spoelstra says he wouldn’t change a thing.
“I’m not losing sleep over what other people are saying about it. What’s ethical, what’s not,” added Spoelstra. “I would do it 10 times out of 10 again for Bam. I’m apologizing to nobody about this. I feel so awesome for Bam because he is about all the right things. I think most of the people that made comments, they probably didn’t watch the game. That’s irresponsible or unethical. You don’t even understand the context of the game.”
Down the stretch, the Heat were going out of their way to get more shots for Bam, prioritizing his stats over even the game itself. In the end, while Adebayo made history in a team win, not everyone was pleased with how it went down. Even now, critics argue that his performance cheated the game and took advantage of the rules to get 43 free-throw attempts.
Spoelstra, however, couldn’t deny Adebayo’s chance to become the second-highest leading scorer ever. As the points were mounting in the first half, he could sense that something big was in the air, and he let it play out for all the fans and players to watch. With several players out and the team battling to keep their position, the Heat wanted Bam to lock in, and that’s exactly what he did.
