Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo made history last season by scoring 83 points against the Washington Wizards. The feat was the second-highest-scoring game in NBA history, surpassing Kobe's 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006. Bam's passing Kobe and his effort to reach 83 points drew widespread criticism from several NBA fans and prognosticators, especially Kobe Bryant fans.
In an interview with Makeshift Project, Bam put his thought process behind his 83-point game into perspective.
“Oh, I went for it. I knew exactly what I was doing. The thing about it is, I don't know how to say this without really sounding explicit. I don't give a f*ck about what anybody negative has to say about it. One, because I idolize Kobe Bryant. In my mind, I'm like, I got 70 with 9 minutes left, so I had a decision to make at that point: Spo could really check me out right now, or I can go for it. I was like, I'm going for it. I knew exactly where I was at the moment. I was like, yeah, I'm dog tired, but I'm going for it.
Bam then delineated the difference between him and Kobe Bryant, as Kobe was known for high-volume shooting nights, and Bam had never shot that many shots before in his career.
Article Continues Below“I'm not like Kobe Bryant, where you know the game before he sat out with 62. That's the first time I've ever taken that many shots in the game before. What? What? When I think about it, I'm like, to be in a flow state, where you have 30 in a quarter, not many people can say that?”
Bam looked at it as a now-or-never opportunity and also actualized in his mind that if Kobe had the opportunity to break the all-time scoring record, he would have.
“I was like, ‘I may never get this chance again.' People were like, ‘Man, you should have stopped at 81.' ‘Why? So y'all could never mention me?' Because I already know how Kobe fans are. I'm a Kobe fan. We're not going to remember Bam. Who the f*ck is he? I know it. I get it, so I was like, “Yeah, I'm going for it.” Also, to be quite honest, if Kobe has, let's say, 88 with 7 minutes left in a game, which is crazy, I wouldn't be shocked if he'd be like, ‘Yeah, I'm going to go break Wilt's record.' 100%.”