Bam Adebayo has received plenty of praise and backlash for his 83-point performance, which surpassed Kobe Bryant’s 81 points for second-highest single game total in NBA history. Almost half of those points came on free throws (he made an NBA record 36 of 43 free throws) and he also launched 22 three-pointers, making just seven of them.
Bam was unapologetic when discussing the controversial offensive explosion with Dan Patrick.
“Everyone wants to be mad at me but be mad their coach for not doubling me when I had 30 in a quarter,” said Bam, doubling down on comments he made in a recent press conference.
The entire nature of his performance has been deemed as unworthy of praise by many basketball fans.
Bam Adebayo Blames 83-Point Game On Coaches, Bad Defense, Referees
Bam, who was beaming the night of his historic output, shot back against the hoops haters diminishing his accomplishment as a forced gimmick.
“Yall are blaming me. You should be blaming the head coach. I was not the one who let me go one-on-one the whole game until I had 70 with 9 minutes to go. You think I’m not going for it? “
“That’s the thing that’s crazy when they talk about the unethical part of basketball. If I have 70 with 9 mins to go, who would be like, coach just take me out? Yeah, right!”
Fans Don’t Feel Bam Adebayo’s Explanation As To Why He Stayed In Blowout Just To Chase Points
“You can’t be mad at that. If you are mad, I don’t care. A lot of people, they’re upset. If they did play, they never got the chance to get that close to chasing greatness. If you get that close, that’s the point of chasing it so you can surpass it.”
“You can watch the film. I was legitimately getting fouled every time. So I went to the free throw line.”
“But what you’re missing is, Miami was up big. the coaches on both teams were purposely trying to get you to the free throw line. A call was made for this to happen.. NBA Wizards and Heat all working in tandem to give you an extreme push to get 83. If that was all you and no training wheels, then do it again.. your second most scoring game was in 2021 vs Brooklyn.. with 41 pts. Over 5 years ago!!! So Bam Adebayo, if that 83 pt game was all you, with no training wheels, then do it again,” one fan challenged Bam.
“This man is disgusting. Blames the Coach!? Had he been truthful and said, “Yeah, I wanted it for my name,” at least I would’ve respected him for his honesty,” someone said on X.
“Dude is so immature. Kobe had several chances for high score games outside of his 81 game and turned them down. Bam is basically sh-tting on his coach who made the decision to let him be great,” added a third fan who can’t fathom the thought of Bam being anywhere near Kobe and Wilt in the record books.
Did Bam Adebayo Violate Unwritten Rules?
Some fans feel that Bam broke an unwritten rule for star players. His team already had the game well in hand and there was no reason for him to come out for the fourth quarter just to chase a record that several players could have achieved prior if they selfishly just “went for it.”
“I’ll blame you. You should have taken yourself out in the 4th quarter when your team was up 30 pts,” one fan noted.
“A lot of players would have sat way before then. Give it up and stop blaming others. It was a gimmick,” a fan commented on X.
He was going to have to address the media and fan backlash eventually and Bam called it like he saw it. The fans see it how they see it. Either way, he’s in those record books.
