yahoo - 3/11/2026 5:28:19 AM - GMT (+2 )
Bam Adebayo made some of the unlikeliest NBA history Tuesday with an astonishing scoring night, posting 83 points in a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards.
The scoring mark passed Kobe Bryant's legendary 81-point game as the second-highest by an individual in NBA history. Only Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point scoring night stands above him.
Adebayo is a three-time All-Star and has been one the league's better all-around centers over the course of the last nine NBA seasons. But with a career scoring average of 16 points, he's not exactly known for his explosive offensive output. But against a Washington Wizards defense that's the worst in the NBA, Adebayo caught fire. And his name is now etched in the NBA history books.
He had 43 at halftime. By the end of the third quarter, he had 62. At that point, he had the NBA's rapt attention. And the game's biggest names, past and present, were following and reacting on social media.
Heat legends LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were among them.
BAM BAM BAM 💥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 11, 2026
83 for CAP 🫡 🤯 pic.twitter.com/wdoptsezDp
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) March 11, 2026
Bro what
— Jalen Brunson (@jalenbrunson1) March 11, 2026
83 Adebayo 🥶😮💨🔥
— Victor Oladipo (@VicOladipo) March 11, 2026
My goodness Bam‼️ Couldn’t happen to a better person‼️
— Theo pinson (@tpinsonn) March 11, 2026
YEAHHH @Bam1of1 ‼️‼️‼️
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) March 11, 2026
@Bam1of1 going CRAZY
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) March 11, 2026
Dear lord, please let Bam play this entire game 🤞🏼
— Meyers Leonard (@MeyersLeonard) March 11, 2026
83?????
— Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41) March 11, 2026
Wait a minute Bam got what
— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) March 11, 2026
Tuffffffff 83pts Bam
— Brandon Jennings (@Tuff__Crowd) March 11, 2026
That was dope watching @Bam1of1 shoot his way into history…. Congrats young fella….🔥🔥🔥
— Vince Carter (@mrvincecarter15) March 11, 2026
And the Heat celebrated the moment in appropriate fashion, with an ode to Chamberlain's 100-point night back in 1962.
Bam: 83 😮💨
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 11, 2026
(📸: Miami Heat) pic.twitter.com/qRlIiEfTrL
Adebayo, naturally, is now the Heat's single-game scoring leader. He passed James' previous record at the end of the third quarter. He finished shooting 20-of-43 from the field and went 36-of-43 from the free throw line. Both his makes and attempts from the stripe were NBA single-game records. He's just the 11th player in league history with a 70-point game, too.
Adebayo entered the night averaging just 18.9 points and 9.8 rebounds per game this season.
“To be [at] 83 and passing [Bryant], in my mind, it’s like, what would he say to me? Because I’ve always wanted to have a conversation with him,” Adebayo said. “He’ll probably say, ‘Go do it again.’
“Just a surreal moment being in the company with somebody that you idolized growing up.”
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