Lakers Legend Throws Cold Water on Bam Adebayo’s Historic 83-Point Night

Mar 10, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) reacts after becoming the NBA's second-highest scorer of points in a game against the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center. Adebayo scored 83 points. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images | Rhona Wise-Imagn Images

Miami Heat star big man Bam Adebayo etched himself in NBA history by scoring 83 points against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.

Adebayo’s career night put him second all-time on the single-game scoring list behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points and just ahead of Kobe Bryant’s 81-point performance. 

Since the historic feat, opinions about Adebayo’s outing, leaving many split. Seven-time NBA champion and Los Angeles Lakers legend Robert Horry made it clear where he stands, saying during a Spectrum SportsNet segment that he found it disrespectful.

Lakers Legend Robert Horry Goes in on Bam Adebayo's Historic Performance

Robert Horry says Bam 83 point game needs a asterisk:

“43 shots, 43 FTs, I saw some highlights… 83 points is impressive but it gets to a point you have to respect the game. There were moments in this game it wasn’t respected. It’ll go down as 2nd most in the game, I’m putting… pic.twitter.com/IpQxCaLjBy

— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) March 11, 2026

"83 points is impressive. But it gets to a point where you have to respect the game. And I think there were moments in this game where it was not respected," Horry said. "83 points is a lot. I appreciate the effort, and it's going to go down as the second-most in the game. 

“But it's like you always say on certain things, it should have an asterisk by it, I'm putting an asterisk by this one. It's still a lot. I'm not taking away anything from Bam, it's a lot."

Horry acknowledged the point total but didn’t like how Adebayo got to that historic mark. It likely stems from the fact that the game was already decided by the fourth quarter, with the Heat holding a comfortable double-digit lead. 

Miami chose to keep Adebayo in the contest, which saw him make 14 of 16 free throws in the quarter. Much of which came in the final few minutes of regulation, when his teammates did everything possible to give him opportunities to score.

Bam Adebayo GOES IN on the critics that says his 83 point game performance is unethical:

"For the couch coaches, I mean, if you're in my shoes and you have, first of all, y'all are blaming me. You should be blaming the head coach. Get that first. I was not the one letting me go… pic.twitter.com/4Hf3GV0bxi

— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) March 13, 2026

It included force-feeding the ball to him to take shot attempts over double and triple teams at times. In the final two minutes of the quarter, the Heat even resorted to intentionally fouling Wizards players to give Adebayo chances to surpass Bryant on the scoring list, which he eventually did on a pair of free throws.

All that contributed to him setting the NBA single-game record with 43 free throw attempts. The problem with people who hold similar stances to Horry isn’t that Adebayo scored, but how he scored the points in the fourth quarter of a lopsided game that didn’t need him on the floor anymore to decide the outcome. 

It is the core of the issue that has created this muddied feeling around the performance, rather than universal praise for the monumental achievement that Adebayo put forth on Wednesday night.

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