Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo shocked the world of basketball when he scored 83 points in a game against the Washington Wizards on March 10, the highest individual scoring performance in the NBA since Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962.
Adebayo’s performance wasn’t just unusual because of the individual scoring accomplishment, but also because he isn’t the first player that comes to mind when producing outlier results on the stat sheet. A second-tier star, who had one previous 40-point performance in his career, nobody expected Adebayo to be the one to score 83 points in a competitive and professional environment, but he did just that against a lackluster Washington Wizards team.
In his historic performance, Adebayo also blew past the record for free throws and free-throw attempts in an NBA game, shooting 36 of 43 from the line. He took nine more three-point shots than he had previously attempted in a game, and recorded a 57.7% usage rate in his 42 minutes played.
Adebayo now holds the second spot on the NBA’s all-time leading single-game scorers list, only trailing Wilt Chamberlain’s legendary 100-point performance — a record so unbelievable it has now become the subject of online conspiracy theories. While Adebayo was still 17 points away from Wilt, he proved that it may be possible for someone in the modern NBA to get even closer. It is not out of the question to imagine someone like Nikola Jokic or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander improving on Bam’s tally.
On the flip side, the Wizards’ atrocious defensive performance is emblematic of the state of their franchise. Their extended rebuild is stalling, and they haven’t posted a winning season in eight years. While tanking for a third year in a row, the Wizards have failed to find the talent they desire.
From afar, their rebuild looks like a half-baked attempt to emulate Sam Presti’s massively successful tanking strategy for the Oklahoma City Thunder, which relied on accumulating and using lots of high lottery picks on high-risk young talent. But outside of Alex Sarr, the second overall pick from last year’s draft, Washington’s risks haven’t paid off, as they have failed to find promising young players. Their defensive breakdown against the Heat came as no shock; the Wizards are slated for the second-best odds in this year’s lottery.
For many, Adebayo’s performance was representative of the NBA’s tanking problem, which has been made worse by this year’s strong draft class, as more teams have decided to lose games to secure higher lottery odds. The tanking issue has swelled enough to force NBA commissioner Adam Silver to consider anti-tanking measures. Silver floated the idea of removing the draft altogether, but backed down due to a massive outcry from fans. Now the league is opting for proposals that flatten the lottery odds and reward teams closer to playoff contention.
Adebayo’s performance showed the NBA and its fans that it was, indeed, possible to move beyond the legacy of Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game. Bryant’s historical performance came just two years after he used his star power as an NBA player to avoid criminal charges for the sexual assault of a hotel worker in Denver, something he personally addressed later on as part of a civil suit settlement. Adebayo’s 83 points may have been less exciting, but Bryant’s 81 forced the league to enshrine a player with a lot more controversy to his name. Adam Silver may be ashamed about the basketball failings that created the circumstances for Adebayo’s achievement, but he should be happy to see that the scoring record books are still very much open.
