Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo broke Kobe Bryant's mark of 81 points with a historic 83-point performance against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.
He also broke the hearts of many Los Angeles Lakers fans.
There were some salty tears being shed at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night, with Lakers fans criticizing the announcement made before the game between Los Angeles and the Minnesota Timberwolves that Adebayo had passed LA legend Kobe Bryant for the second-highest scoring performance in a single game in NBA history.
Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter just announced Bam's 83 points and called it a sad event. Cheers scattered throughout the LA home crowd. pic.twitter.com/0wYoYcJFN7
- David Mendez-Yapkowitz (@Dave_Yapkowitz) 11 March 2026
To say that Adebayo was on the field against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday evening would be an understatement. He made 20 of 43 shots from the floor and 7 of 22 on his attempts from behind the arc. The former Kentucky Wildcats star also performed well at the free-throw line, where he shot 36 of 43. They made more free throws from the foul line (29) than the Wizards attempted.
Of the thousands of players who have played in the NBA, he is now one of two in history to score at least 83 points in a game, along with Wilt Chamberlain, whose 100 points in 1962 remains the gold standard for single-game scoring feats.
Kobe's 81 points in the 2006 game hold a special place in the hearts of Lakers fans, so at this point it's a little hard for them to accept that someone in the modern era has topped the Black Mamba's total score in that game against the Toronto Raptors 20 years ago.
The Lakers will visit Adebayo and the Heat on March 19, so this is a game where he can make a big statement to those bitter LA fans.
