Tyrese Haliburton’s Faith in Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 Restored by Bam Adebayo’s 83-Point Shocker

The shock and awe of Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game still lingers days later and will likely continue to do so until the end of the season. It was truly one of the most surprising performances in NBA history and will be remembered forever as Adebayo’s name is eternally etched near the top of basketball’s single-game all-time scoring list.

The historic outing has also sparked plenty of talk about Adebayo’s performance in comparison to Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game and Wilt Chamberlain’s famous 100-point game. Most of this discussion has been divisive in regards to how Adebayo scored his points, what with the generous number of free throw attempts involved and the Heat’s willingness to keep pushing his point total up in the final minutes of a blowout win. But for injured Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, watching Adebayo get to 83 gave him a whole new perspective on Chamberlain’s longstanding, yet occasionally disputed, record of 100.

Appearing on Twitch on Wednesday night, Haliburton admitted Adebayo convinced him that Chamberlain actually did score 100 back in 1962 despite there being no footage of the game.

“I ain’t gonna lie: Wilt Chamberlain’s 100? I don’t know if I believed it. But after what I watched yesterday? Wilt had 100,” Haliburton said with a laugh.

"Wilt Chamberlain 100... I ain't know if I believed it... but after what I watched yesterday... Wilt had 100"

Tyrese Haliburton after Bam Adebayo scored 83 points 😅

(via @Hali/ Twitch)

pic.twitter.com/11FCQAFdQk
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 12, 2026

It’s not an uncommon reaction in the basketball world, either. Chamberlain’s record has stood for so long (and has never been seen in full by those who weren’t in attendance) that it’s as much myth as legend. But after watching Adebayo get within a mere 17 points of the decades-old record, it suddenly seems much more believable—the simple impact of watching something happen with one’s own eyes.

Could Wilt Chamberlain’s record fall one day?

On a similar line of thinking, Haliburton’s confidence in Chamberlain getting to 100 inspires further confidence that one day, someone will do the same.

Is that a misguided notion? Perhaps. Adebayo barely got to 83 on Tuesday and was well short of Chamberlain’s record. He had to play 42 of 48 possible minutes and have the ball in his hands every single possession down the stretch. More than that, he had to try to score on an increasing number of defenders as the game went on. Consequentially, the Miami big man was visibly exhausted throughout the final quarter and even that might be underselling just how tired he was. It is extremely taxing physically to score that many points even for some of the most well-conditioned athletes the world has to offer.

But the nature of Adebayo’s 83 points actually lends credence to the idea someone may surpass Chamberlain. Why? Because the Heat star pulled it off without hitting a bunch of three-pointers. He did sink seven tries from beyond the arc but generally speaking Adebayo might not even be a top-50 three-point shooter in the league right now. If someone with elite numbers from three-point land catches fire and gets the same treatment Adebayo did from their teammates, could that 17-point gap be bridged?

The realistic answer is probably not. So much had to unfold in a very specific manner for Adebayo to hit his mark that it’s impossible to foresee it happening again. And yet it was pretty darn impossible to imagine Bam Adebayo surpassing Kobe in the history books. Until it happened.

That’s really the message of Haliburton’s acknowlegement above—if Adebayo can score 83, anything can happen.

More NBA on Sports Illustrated

Listen to SI’s NBA podcast, Open Floor, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.