Bam Adebayo Guesses What Kobe Bryant Would Say About His 83-Point Game

Heat star Bam Adebayo recorded 83 points against the Wizards on Tuesday night, good for the second-most points scored in a single game in NBA history. | Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images

Bam Adebayo wrote himself into the NBA history books with his record-breaking 83-point game on Tuesday night against the Wizards, but despite his legendary numbers, many still want to write him off.

A quick perusal on X (formerly Twitter) shows plenty of talking heads and hoops fans adamantly insisting that Adebayo’s performance was not worthy of the history it made. Even some NBA players and coaches agreed: “I saw he only made [sic] six threes but 40 free throws or something like that,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Tells the story right there. And the Washington Wizards.”

Given that Adebayo surpassed the late Kobe Bryant with his historic game, emotions may be running higher than usual. And given that Adebayo also attempted a whopping 43 free throws—his last seven points came from the stripe—it makes a lot of sense as to why some people want to put an asterisk on this game, especially with the farcical way the end of the contest played out (Adebayo was clearly hunting for free throws and his Heat teammates were helping him get them).

The league’s ethical hoops debate aside, Adebayo spoke about chasing Bryant’s all-time record (81 points) on SportsCenter postgame. He was asked by Scott Van Pelt what the NBA great would say about his 83-point stunner, to which he casually said:

“He would probably tell me to do it again.”

.@notthefakesvp: "What do you think [Kobe would say]?"

Bam Adebayo: "He would probably tell me do it again." 🔥 pic.twitter.com/a1MnY2JIyZ

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 11, 2026

“That was my idol growing up, I watched how he approached the game with that much focus... being locked in 48 minutes of a game,” Adebayo said of Bryant. “Obviously to see him do it that way, [it was] a special moment. Now, when I got to the free throw line, I was like, ‘Alright, you got 81. But we gotta make these free throws.’”

The final stretch of the Heat’s 150-129 win featured stat-chasing at its finest: Heat coach Erik Spoelstra somewhat surprisingly kept Adebayo in the game after he tied Bryant’s 81 points, and Adebayo was only able to surpass the Lakers legend thanks to two final free throws with roughly a minute remaining.

People from Bryant’s past didn’t seem particularly thrilled about Adebayo’s feat, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic. Neither was much of the NBA world.

But in the end, Adebayo made his own indelible mark in the league, and he will be remembered for it. No one, not Bryant nor Wilt Chamberlain, gets to 80-plus points in a single NBA game without some degree of absurdity, albeit Adebayo’s 43 free throw tries weren’t very pretty to watch. (Bryant, by contrast, only attempted 20 in his historic game in 2006.)

It would perhaps be good for everyone immediately criticizing Adebayo to remember how hard the 28-year-old worked to get this far. Adebayo grew up with his mom in a single-wide trailer before gifting her a home she could call her own on her birthday in 2020. He’s been very vocal about how his mom helped teach him the value of perseverance and resilience, which helped shape him into the three-time All Star he is today. And most important of all, Adebayo never forgot his roots, posting a sweet picture of himself hugging his mom after his storied night. Could Adebayo have gotten to 83 points without all those free throws and without the help of his teammates? Probably not. But did he deserve it? Absolutely.

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