NBA world reacts to Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game

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NBA world reacts to Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game

Tomer Azarly, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Wed, Mar 11, 2026 ·

5 min read

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NBA world reacts to Bam Adebayo's 83-point game appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

The Miami Heat saw star Bam Adebayo score a career-high 83 points, the second-highest scoring game in NBA history, surpassing Kobe Bryant's 81-point performance in 2006. Only Wilt Chamberlain and his 100-point game are higher than Adebayo's.

In 42 minutes of play, Bam Adebayo finished with 83 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocked shots. He shot 20-of-43 from the field, 7-of-22 from three, and 36-of-43 from the free throw line in the historic game.

Adebayo set a new record for free throws taken in a game with 43, surpassing Dwight Howard 's record of 39.

A number of players and coaches in the NBA world reacted to the monstrous scoring night by Adebayo, including some of the league's best scorers.

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo gave his props to Adebayo after the Bucks' home loss against the Phoenix Suns .

"Incredible," Antetokounmpo said. "83 is incredible. It speaks volumes to his hard work. I haven't seen the game yet, I have to see the game. He took 43 free throws? It doesn't matter how you get there. All that matters is that you got it. Like in 10, 20, 30 years from now, nobody's going to remember how many free throws he shot. I don't think I remember how many shots Kobe shot or how many free throws he made or threes. All you remember is 81. Wilt, 100. You don't remember that. At the end of the day, he got 83 points. Great way to help your team win. I know that his family and close friends there are extremely excited and happy for him. The game speaks volumes in his hard work. I know Bam, he works his butt off every single day, never cheats the game. To see a guy like him do this is incredible."

Bam Adebayo's former Olympic teammate, Kevin Durant of the Houston Rockets , was also astonished by the feat .

"I couldn't believe it when I was hearing it in real time," Durant said after his team's game. "It's like he's got 30 in the first quarter. Congratulations to Bam. I know how much work he puts in. I looked up the stat sheet, it's pretty crazy. He had 40 shots, 40 free throws, 20 threes. That takes a lot of stamina, a lot of energy to put those shots up and then also make them, set a record, surpass Kobe as the second-highest scoring player in the history of the game. Congrats to him. Huge, huge accomplishment. It's something we'll be talking about forever."

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama appeared to be much more dismissive of the feat in his postgame interview after the Spurs beat the Boston Celtics .

"Yeah I saw," Wembanyama said before pausing. "I think we're in a league where's there is plenty of inspirations to look up to, but yeah I saw…"

Rockets head coach Ime Udoka also appeared to be a tad dismissive of the 83-point performance.

"First thing you think is how, not because of him, but because of the way he plays," Udoka said. "I saw he only made six threes, but 40 free throws or something like that. That tells the story right there. And the Washington Wizards."

Philadelphia 76ers forward Kelly Oubre had another take on it , giving credit to his Sixers teammate Joel Embiid .

"Well one, I'm going to say it's definitely legendary," Oubre said. "The box-score, the number, and shoutout to Bam. He just cemented himself in history. I'm kind of salty that he bested Kobe, that's one of my favorite players for sure, but I'm going to just say this, Joel did it efficiently, and he did it in three quarters."

After the Los Angeles Lakers ' home win over Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves , Lakers head coach JJ Redick explained where he was watching the game from and how he found out about the news.

"It's incredible what he was able to do," Redick said. "I walked in, and I saw the score. He was at the free-throw line, and they'd been playing great basketball lately. I said to my coaching staff, 'The Heat are rolling.' They kind of looked at me and said, 'Are you kidding right now?' I said, 'No, what's up? They're 36-28, they'll be 37-28.' And they're like, 'No, Bam has 77.' And I was like, 'huh?!' I watched the last three minutes, and that was a different type of basketball."

There will surely be more players and coaches chiming in on Adebayo's feat on Wednesday night, but so far, it's been a mixed bag of reactions to the Heat star's 83-point night.

After his 83-point game, Bam Adebayo is now averaging 20 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from the free-throw line.

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