Bam Adebayo fires back at criticism of 83-point night: ‘I don’t care’

Bam Adebayo isn’t apologizing.

The Heat star, fresh off a historic 83-point performance against the Wizards this week, is already over the the question of whether he should have left Kobe Bryant’s 81-point 2006 game as the second-highest output in NBA history.

“First of all, y’all are blaming me. You should be blaming [the Washington coach]. Get that first,” Adebayo said after the Heat toppled the Bucks on Thursday night. “I was not the one that let me go one-on-one the whole game until I had 70 [points] and then started to send a double [team]. At that point, I had 70 with, what, nine minutes left to go in the game? You think I’m not going for it?”

The debate over Adebayo’s accomplishment — and the Kobe of it all — comes with intense scrutiny over the final minutes of the win over Washington, in which the 28-year-old was able to get extra shots as a result of his teammates fouling Washington players in a game that was out of hand.

He took several of his NBA-record 36 free throws as the game waned, as well.

Many — including former NBA All-Star Gordon Hayward — have argued the effort was disrespectful to the legacy of Bryant, the iconic Lakers star who died in a January 2020 helicopter crash.

Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) celebrates with forward Keshad Johnson (16) after reaching 83 points, the second-highest single game total in NBA history, in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards. AP

“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. … A minute? All right. Nine? Yeah, I’m going for it. You can’t be mad at that. If you are mad, I don’t care. Because a lot of people, they’re upset because if they did play, they never had a chance to get that close to chasing greatness. And if you get that close to chasing greatness, that’s the point of chasing it, so you can surpass it. … If you’ve been in the backyard, and you and a couple of your homies are playing 21, and you got 19, you’re not gonna get an easy look off.

“They’re gonna talk about the free throws. 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.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra wasn’t in the mood to give in to any hurt feelings, either.

“I apologize to absolutely no one,” he said Thursday. “Period.”

Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) protects the basketball against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34). IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“I’ve seen people say you’ve got to be a purist. I’m a Darwinist in this league,” he added. “Really, you can do anything you want in this game. You can approach it however you want. … There’s nothing wrong with what they’re doing. If you can tank and get a great draft pick, I don’t care. You could do anything in this league. You can approach it however you want.”

Adebayo, known more as a defensive whiz, posted just 21 points in the follow-up against Milwaukee, but he’s not letting any take his place in NBA history from him.

“To be able to move onto the next game, get the win and figure it out in a different way … it wasn’t 83 tonight. It was 21,” he said. “And if anybody’s upset, I don’t care.”