Bam Adebayo took the spotlight in the sports world on Tuesday night, scoring an impressively high 83 points in the Miami Heat’s 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards.
Despite the three-time NBA All-Star’s unbelievable accomplishment, it didn’t go without criticism over the way in which he achieved the feat. Critics questioned the ethics involved in his performance, especially due to the game appearing out of reach in the fourth quarter for the visiting Wizards.
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra decided to leave his big man in the game, giving him 42 minutes on the court to rack up his points, and many of those came from the free-throw line.
Still, both Spoelstra and Adebayo refused to let critics diminish the scoring feat, which was the second-most points scored in the history of the NBA. Only the legendary Wilt Chamberlain had more, with his 100-point game in 1962.
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While speaking to reporters recently, Adebayo suggested that the media was pointing fingers at him for what transpired on the hardwood. Instead, he suggested they should be “blaming” the head coach for his decision.
“I was not the one to let me go one-on-one for the game until I had 70 and then [they] started to send a double,” Adebayo said, adding, “At that point I had 70 with what, nine minutes left to go in the game? You think I’m not going for it?”
“That’s the thing that’s crazy when they talk about the unethical part of basketball. I’m like, ‘I had 70 with nine minutes to go,'” Adebayo said. “Who would just be like, ‘You know, coach? Just take me out.’ Yeah, right,” he told reporters.
“You can’t be mad at that. If you are, I don’t care,” he also said, suggesting that many of the critics were “upset” because they probably “never had a chance to get that close to chasing greatness.”
The Heat star also addressed all of the free throws he shot in the game, indicating he’s not a guy who averages a lot of free throw attempts during NBA games, so the Wizards fouls on him were all legit.
“It’s not like I shoot 15 free throws a game. It’s not like I average 10 free throws a game. You can watch the film. I was legitimately getting fouled every time, so I went to the free-throw line,” Adebayo said.
When it comes to the criticisms, the most valid of those should be aimed at Adebayo’s coach, Spoelstra, who could have taken him out of the game when his team had a 20-plus point lead in the fourth quarter.
He also could’ve not challenged a call that he felt should’ve given Adebayo more free throws, and not had his players foul the Wizards with under two minutes remaining, so that the scorching hot Heat star could have another opportunity on offense.
That said, it was a remarkable feat with Bam tallying 31 points in the first half and 43 points by halftime. His 83 not only landed him in the history books for scoring the second-most points in a game, but he also broke previous Heat records held for a single quarter and game by LeBron James.
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