Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo acquired many fans after his historic 83-point performance against the Washington Wizards. 

He has since gained more admirers, including Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. After their game Thursday, Antetokounmpo was overly complimentary of Adebayo. 

"One of the best two-way players in the NBA," Antetokounmpo said. "One of the best 4-5 man in the league. Whenever I go at him, I don't have to see 83 points on the board. or follow the hype to find extra motivation to guard Bam." 

While many were critical of the way Adebayo scored the 83, Antetokounmpo said it doesn't matter. In a blowout game, the Heat extending things with fouls and timeouts so Adebayo could surpass Kobe Bryant's 81-point effort. Adebayo also attempted 43 free throws. 

Still, Antetokounmpo was impressed with the performance. 

"It goes both ways," Antetokounmpo said. "He may have had 2 points the last game, I still would have motivation to guard him, because I believe he's one of the best players in the league. I'm always motivated to play against Bam. He knows that. I think it goes both ways.”

Here are some other reactions to Adebayo's historic game: 

ESPN analyst Tim McMahon: "I'll admit I was cracking up laughing while watching but I never want to hear about Heat Culture and professional and all that crap again. That was the most blatant stat-chasing I've ever seen. It was the worst stat-chasing since Ricky Davis tried to get a rebound on the wrong basketball to get a triple-double. The difference is this was minutes and minutes to extend the game stat-chasing. I enjoyed the 39 by [Victor Wembanayama] than the egregious 83 but I'm old, I'm grumpy. I admit it."

ESPN's Brian Windhorst:  "It's a special momentI would say this: Bam has gold medals. He's been in a couple of Finals. He will always have this. This will always be remembered. And you know what, seven, eight, 12, 15 years from now, people are not going to remember that they fouled at the end of the game." 

The Heat return to action Saturday against the Orlando Magic in a key Eastern Conference matchup. 

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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of HeatRoundtable. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com