by Logan Bowe

Last Tuesday, March 10th, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo put up a record breaking performance against the Washington Wizards, scoring 83 points on the night. That’s the highest single game points total since March 2, 1962 when Wilt Chamberlain had his infamous and debated 100 point game against the New York Knicks.

Since then, the record stood at 81 points put up by Kobe Bryant on Jan 22, 2006 against the Toronto Raptors. This feat by Adebayo comes as a surprise to many because Bam is only averaging 20 PPG this season and his previous career high was 41 points.

Adebayo’s feat sparked controversy due to the circumstances of both Kobe Bryant’s recent and tragic death (and the argument to keep his record as a respect to his legacy) and also the record number of free throws Bam made to achieve his feat – 36 of a possible 43. However, Bam did make 83% of the free throws he earned, so we should credit him for that. Regardless of the argument, the third 80 point game in NBA history still remains an incredible feat of athletic ability that any player should be proud of.