Bam Adebayo and Erik Spoelstra hit back at critics amid Heat star’s ‘unethical’ 83-point game

Bam Adebayo’s historic 83-point night will be forever etched in NBA folklore.

Despite posting the second-greatest single-game scoring performance in NBA history, the Miami Heat star was on the end of some backlash for the manner in which he was able to do so.

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Adebayo is now sandwiched between Wilt Chamberlain’s triple-digit outing in 1962 and the late great Kobe Bryant‘s 81 pointer prowess against the Toronto Raptors back in 2006.

His iconic performance on March 10 attracted a flock of NBA legends past and present to congratulate him, including former Heat star LeBron James, Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, and arguably the greatest basketball player of all time in Michael Jordan.

Many of the responses from basketball fans across the globe were positive, though many were in shock about what they had witnessed in 4K.

Some fans, however, have argued that the 28-year-old’s route into the history books was ‘unethical’ due to the sheer manner of free throws he made – and attempted – during the Heat’s 150-129 victory over the Washington Wizards.

Of his 83 points, 36 came from the free-throw line, while Adebayo shot 20-for-43 from the field and 7-for-22 from beyond the arc – a conversion rate of 31.8 percent.

He finished his career game having also racked up nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks in what was a polished display across all facets of the box score.

For context, in Bryant’s solo performance at the Crypto.com Arena (then known as the Staples Center) in 2006, only 18 of his points came from the line, while he was also more efficient from the field, shooting 28-of-46, and knocking down seven of his 13 triple attempts.

There was some added criticism over Miami’s tactics, with them often intentionally fouling toward the end of the game to gain more possessions, and thus, put the ball in the three-time NBA All-Star’s hands more often.

Adebayo and Coach Spoelstra fire back at criticism

After the Heat’s 112-105 win against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, Adebayo went off on the critics who said his 83-point performance was ‘unethical’.

“You’re 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 then you sent the double. At that point, I had 70 with 9 mins to go. You think I’m not going for it?”

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“That’s the thing that’s crazy when they talk about unethical part of the basketball. If I have 70 with 9 mins to go, who would be like, coach just take me out? Yeah, right!

“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.”

Statistically speaking, Adebayo’s prolific individual outing came from nowhere – no really.

According to one statistician, his 83-point game was 8.5 standard deviations above his career, which, in slightly more layman’s terms means he had an estimated 1 in 53 quadrillion chance of hitting that mark and surpassing Bryant.

Miami head coach Eric Spoelstra – who should get his flowers for leaving Adebayo in the game – issued a similar response to the naysayers prior to their latest W.

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

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“We’ve already lost a game in that kind of situation. We have players that are sitting out and I spoke to Bam about, I want as our best player and team captain, for him to be locked in and ready. And he sure was.”

The Heat are currently on a seven-game win streak, and with just 15 games of the 2025-26 regular season remaining, they currently sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference – the final automatic playoff berth.

With just one game separating Spoelstra’s team and that of the Raptors in seventh place in the East, wins are crucial to ensure they don’t fall into the Play-In Tournament spots.

Their next outing comes against the fifth-seed Orlando Magic, who have the same win record, but hold the higher seed due to having played one fewer game.

Hopefully the Heat won’t need Bam to attempt to break his own scoring record to keep their chances of automatically progressing to the post-season alive.

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