MIAMI – As Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo made NBA history by scoring 83 points in the team’s 150-128 win over the Washington Wizards, surpassing Kobe Bryant’s 81 for the second-highest scoring game ever, the conversation is polarizing. With the NBA world reacting to the Heat captain’s 83-point night, with some saying there should be an asterisk next to the game and others questioning the ethics, came head coach Erik Spoelstra’s response.
There was no denying a special night for Adebayo, who etched his name in the annals of NBA history by scoring 83 points, capping a dominant performance by Washington that few had seen before. However, people have pointed to the 43 free-throw attempts, the team intentionally committing fouls to gain more possession, and other examples of a lackluster night.
If there’s one word that’s been floating around on social media about comparing Adebayo’s game to Bryant’s game in 2006, it’s that some people say one word is more “ethical” than the other. For Spoelstra, those who have raised their voices on the matter did not take into account history and said that this in itself is “immoral”.
“I think most of the people who probably made comments didn’t watch the game, it’s irresponsible or unethical,” Spoelstra told ClutchPoints. “You don’t even understand the context of the game, like it was a 13-point game. I remember going back into the huddle after the timeout, and [Assistant coach Chris Quinn] Said, “‘Hey, we’ve got to win this game, like we’re chasing something, and that’s great, but we’ve got to win this game.'”
“It was a 13-point game with nine more turnovers, and then bang, we hit three threes in a row… and then his total kept going up. Everything, I would say, was pretty traditional, if you want to say that, until it was the last two minutes, and then we have the autonomy to do whatever we want in those two minutes, whether people think it’s pure or moral or not. Bam and what a great moment it is for this franchise and the city.”
Erik Spoelstra was asked about critics questioning the “ethics” of Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game.
“I don’t care…I would do it again 10 times out of 10…I think most people who probably made comments didn’t see that it was irresponsible or unethical…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/6iBMAi1P0A
– Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) 12 March 2026
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra: ‘I’m not apologizing to anyone’
Opinions coming from Tuesday night were all over the place, with one reporter, Sam Amick of The Athletic, even saying that the Heat center in Adebayo should have taken out the game before breaking Bryant’s mark to honor his legacy. As negotiations continue in the near future, Spoelstra has doubled down on his actions to help Adebayo achieve association history.
“I don’t care, I’m not losing sleep over what other people are saying about it,” Spoelstra said. “What’s ethical? What’s not? Is it ethical to foul a three-point shooter? Is that ethical or not? Is it ethical to foul a bad free-throw shooter and get an extra possession, you know or not? Like all these things happened in under two minutes, he had already broken a lot of records, and we’re going to go for it. It was an amazing moment to be a part of that.”
“And I would do it again 10 times out of 10 for Bam, I’m not apologizing to anybody about that,” Spoelstra added. “I feel great for Bam, because he’s about all the right things, you know. And already in our walkthrough, he’s talking about defense, and we’ve got to prepare our defense to rock tonight. But as a leader, the other night, you know, to set the tone for that game, they can be tough games. I thought it was the leadership personality, and then it went on steroids from there, and it just went off the hill. Became a snowball rolling down.”
With people questioning efficiency, this may have been more evidence that some people weren’t following the game, as Adebayo scored 31 points in the first quarter, 43 in the first half, shooting 54 percent from the field (13/24), 45 percent from deep (5/11).
Over the course of three quarters, he scored 62 points (17/35) on 49 percent shooting from the field, with the final frame being the highlight of those free throws, although Washington’s defense was poor and unable to stop Adebayo. At any rate, no one can take away from Adebayo that he has solidified himself among the greats as he looks to lead Miami into Thursday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks and beyond.
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