A couple of weeks have passed since Bam Adebayo’s historic 83-point performance. There has certainly been a split between support and criticism. No matter what the discourse is though, Adebayo’s name is in the history books now. Typically, players would let the media and fans do the talking in such cases, but Adebayo seems to have taken a different approach.
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Nobody expected Adebayo to become the individual responsible for the second-most points in a single game in NBA history. Surely, Adebayo himself didn’t think that he could do so. After all, he wasn’t even averaging 20 points per game before his offensive explosion. Nonetheless, his performance proved that every once in a while, anyone can catch lightning in a bottle.
Naturally, Adebayo is still high on his 83-points night . After the Miami Heat’s recent loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, where Luka Doncic finished with 60 points, Adebayo referred to his own best performance, which struck a nerve with some people.
“He hit some tough shots out there. I know what it’s like to be in that mode. As people can see, it’s not easy to get 80,” Adebayo said.
Bam Adebayo on Luka Doncic’s 60-point night:
“I know what it’s like to be in that mode… As people can see, it’s not easy to get to 80.”pic.twitter.com/WYWthMiVGK
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) March 20, 2026
It didn’t feel like it was the right time or place to bring that up considering the Heat lost the game. Fans on social media had quite a busy night calling him out on it; so much so that now former NBA player Iman Shumpert has entered the fray.
The 2016 NBA champion is not a fan of Adebayo constantly popping his collar following his record-breaking night.
“Don’t bring up the 80 no more. You don’t bring that up. That was a regular-season game against a tanking team. Bam, you don’t need to talk about it. Let us talk about it,” Shumpert said on Shump Street.
Iman Shumpert calls out Bam for always bringing up his 83-point game
“Don’t bring up the 80 no more. You don’t bring that up. That was a regular season game vs a tanking team.”
(h/t @HeatCulture13 )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 25, 2026
It certainly doesn’t help Adebayo’s case that the Heat are currently on a five-game losing streak. The greats of the game let the media to speak on their achievements. It also allows the athlete to maintain a good rapport with fans, since they don’t come off as egotistical.
Unfortunately, since Adebayo is already on the bad side of a good portion of the basketball community, these comments will only make life tougher for him.
