Bam vs. Kobe: Comparing the NBA’s Two Legendary 80-Point Games

Kobe Bryant went from superstar to legend on Jan. 22, 2006, scoring 81 points in a 122–104 Lakers win over the Raptors. For more than 20 years, Bryant’s name trailed just one other Hall of Famer on the list of highest-scoring games in NBA history: the great Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors against the Knicks during the 1962 season.

That mark stood in second place for 20 years and 47 days, until an incredibly unlikely star—Heat center Bam Adebayo—passed him, going berserk against the lowly Wizards by scoring 83 points. Adebayo had already surpassed his previous career high of 41 by halftime, shattering a host of Miami franchise records along the way.

Adebayo may have scored two more points than Bryant, but did he have the better game? That is certainly up for debate—especially given Adebayo’s remarkable, record-breaking free throw attempt total in the game (43), and the fact that the Heat were clearly doing all they could to try and get him in the record books down the stretch.

Proponents of “ethical basketball” like Victor Wembanyama and Cade Cunningham might take some exception to the way things played out, but 83 points is 83 points. Let’s break down the two outings.

Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game vs. Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game: a head-to-head statistical comparison

Adebayo has the two-point edge in raw numbers. Bryant was far more efficient, and far less relient on both the free throw line and three-point ball, which had not yet totally taken over the game.

Bryant’s start against Toronto, when compared to the rest of his game, was actually fairly muted. He scored 14 points in the first quarter and 12 in the second quarter—clearly the start of a great game, but no one could’ve been prepared for what came in the second half. He dropped 27 points in the third quarter and 28 in the fourth.

Adebayo, meanwhile exploded for 31 points in the first quarter, outscoring Washington in the opening frame. He scored 12 in the second quarter, and while he was on pace to beat Kobe, it appeared that he was slowing down. Some mid-quarter rest in the third backed up that belief, but he finished with an impressive 19 points in the quarter, before adding 21 points in the fourth, 14 of which came from the free throw line.

The full stat comparison:

Stat	Kobe Bryant (Jan. 22, 2006)	Bam Adebayo (March 10, 2026)
Points	81	83
FGM	28	20
FGA	46	43
FG%	60.9	46.5
3PM	7	7
3PA	13	22
3P%	53.8	31.8
FTM	18	36
FTA	20	43
FT%	90	83.7
Rebounds	6	9
Assists	2	3
Steals	3	2
Blocks	1	2
Turnovers	3	5
+/-	+25	+20

Adebayo actually attempted fewer field goals than Bryant—Kobe’s 46 was his third-highest total and the sixth-highest single-game total in NBA history. Adebayo finishes tied for 13th with a 2015 Russell Westbrook outing and a trio of Michael Jordan games with 43 attempts.

Adebayo smashed Dwight Howard’s free throw attempt record of 39 by four, and his 22 three-point attempts were just two shy of Klay Thompson’s 2018 record of 24. Thompson scored 51 in that game.

John Hollinger’s “game score” stat gives Bryant an edge over Adebayo

John Hollinger, a famed basketball statistician who currently writes for The Athletic and previously worked in the Grizzlies front office, developed “game score” as a catchall stat that takes into account all of a player’s box score contributions.

Bryant’s 81-point game earned him a game score of 63.5, the third-highest mark in league history behind a 69-point Michael Jordan outing for the Bulls against the Cavaliers on March 28, 1990, and Luka Dončić’s 73-point game for the Mavericks against the Hawks on Jan. 26, 2024. Using Hollinger’s formula, Adebayo logged a game score of 60.5—good for sixth all-time, just behind a 2023 71-point Donovan Mitchell outing and ahead of a 1990 61-point game by Karl Malone.

Ultimately, the nature of how Adebayo got to 83 points will be ridiculed a bit. The Heat were doing all they could do give him the ball, Erik Spoelstra challenged an offensive foul to try and get Adebayo to the line, and he was clearly hunting for free throws and jacking up absurd shots at the end. Bryant, meanwhile, took 13 of the Lakers’ final 17 shots in his historic game. And Bryant was no stranger to calling his own number above everything else—see his 60-point final game (on an NBA record 50 attempts from the field) in 2016.

Any game like this is as much spectacle as sporting event. Those of us who were able to witness both over the last 20 years should appreciate them for what they were.

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