Bam Adebayo’s 83-point eruption against the Wizards on Tuesday night has been the gift that keeps on giving for NBA discourse. It’s a historical achievement that brought Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant, two of the game’s all-time greats, into the discussion. But it’s also divided basketball fans into two distinct camps — those who celebrate Bam’s accomplishment, absurdity and all, and those who clutch their pearls at the arguably grotesque way that it all went down.
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As is usually the case with anything in life, the haters are the loudest ones. In a league where a third of the teams are tanking and there are serious concerns to be had over player injuries, gambling and more, though, can we just let loose and have a little fun once in a while?
Lost in Bam’s triumph was the fact that the Heat won their sixth game in a row, and when they returned to action last night, they made it seven by beating the Bucks 112-105. They’re now out of the play-in and tied with their fellow red-hot Southeastern division counterpart, the Magic, for fifth in the conference.
After the win, Bam responded to those who have criticized his 83. “First of all, y’all are blaming me. You should be blaming their head coach,” he said. “Get that first. I was not the one letting me go one-on-one the whole game until I had 70, then you started to send a double.”
You have to feel for Brian Keefe. It’s not enough that he has to coach a team as hopeless as the Wizards, now he has to bear the blame when his undermanned team allowed history to happen against them.
Bam continued by taking on those who foolishly suggested that he should have slowed down at the end of the game, or even more ridiculously, purposely finished tied or below Kobe’s 81.
“At that point, I got 70 with what, like nine minutes left to go in the game. You think I’m not going for it?” he asked. “And that’s the thing that’s crazy when they talk about the ‘unethical’ part of basketball, like I have 70 with nine minutes to go. Who would just be like, ‘You know coach, just take me out.’ Yeah right,” he sighed.
As an athlete, it has to be difficult to tune out all the outside noise and just perform at your best. It’s probably also tough at times to love what you do in the face of such overwhelming negativity, but Bam rose above it here with a refreshing ‘too bad’ attitude that was shared by his coach Erik Spoelstra, who hilariously said, “I apologize to absolutely no one.” “You can’t be mad at that,” he declared.
“If you are mad, I don’t care, ’cause a lot of people, they’re upset because if they did play, they never had a chance to get that close to chasing greatness, and if you get that close to chasing greatness, that’s the point of chasing it, so you can surpass it. And some of the people have never played basketball, so if you’ve been in the backyard, and you and a couple of your homies have been playing 21 and you’ve got 19, you’re not gonna get an easy look off,” he added.
Bam also defended the inordinate amount of free throws he took by saying that he doesn’t normally get to the charity stripe nearly that often. Besides he also claimed to be legitimately getting fouled all those times.
In a just world, or at least a fun-loving one, Bam wouldn’t have to defend himself against people hating on his accomplishment. Sports are at the center of the fake outrage business, though, so here we are.
If you’re going to allow a team as dreadful as the Wizards to exist, then sometimes you’re gonna get 83 points dropped on your head. That’s the price of living the tanking life.
