A day later, the takes surrounding Bam Adebayo’s historic night are coming in like wildfire. The Heat star dropped 83 points against the Wizards, putting him ahead of Kobe Bryant as the player with the most points in a single game. But there are criticisms being thrown around as well. Just imagine.
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As exciting as the moment was, many are already calling out Miami’s head coach, Erik Spoelstra, for keeping his star player in a game that was already decided. Not only that, but many are discrediting the performance, blaming the number of free throws he shot and Washington’s abysmal effort due to tanking.
One person who is not about to listen to any “experts” talk trash is Gilbert Arenas. The retired NBA star went off on the critics of Adebayo on the latest edition of his YouTube program.
Gil asked a very good question, one that drives home a point that many need to realize about keeping Adebayo in the game. “Why is there a rule if you’re losing, you can do what the fu*k you want, and the team that’s winning we should babysit your sorry a**es,” asked the three-time All-Star.
This drove his co-hosts through the roof, but as usual, Arenas didn’t care.
Gilbert Arenas on people saying Bam Adebayo shouldn’t have been in the game up 25 chasing 83:
“Why is there a rule if you’re losing, you can do what the fu*k you want, and the team that’s winning we should babysit your sorry a**es.”
(Via @GilsArenaShow) pic.twitter.com/BbZXmlnYld
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) March 11, 2026
“I been whooping your a** all game. You gonna finish with this a** whooping,” added Arenas.
Swaggy and Rasha McCants argued that if they were on the other team, they would deliver a beating to the player who did it. This forced Arenas up the wall, and had him yelling so loud the audio crackled. “That’s what I was told in life! I was told in life, play hard until it’s over!”
There are unwritten rules, yes. Sitting out star players when the game is done and dusted is a show of respect to the other team. But this was different, and that’s what people don’t understand. This was history.
No one talked trash when Kobe dropped 81, and the Lakers also kept him in the game as long as possible because he wanted to do as much damage as possible. The haters can argue semantics all they want. Everyone in the world was talking about Adebayo on March 10, 2026. And they will for the rest of time.
It was also a performance that probably has the Heat’s face of the franchise feeling untouchable, and that’s the mindset you want him in when he heads into the playoffs. Miami will certainly be a playoff team this year, but does anyone trust them as a contender? They might now, because their main scorer just made history. And the only thing to top that is to make more history.
