If someone told you that Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo would drop 45 points last night, you'd probably tell them they were crazy.
So imagine how absurd it is to hear that he nearly doubled it against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night. Adebayo scored 83 points, the second-most in a single game in league history. NBA Twitter went crazy on Tuesday, looping in about every star player they possibly could. Such a historic achievement caught the eyes of seemingly every fanbase in the league.
Of course, since it was a Heat star achieving this, Jayson Tatum was somehow clowned in the act. Tatum, a renowned fan of Kobe Bryant, was the subject of jokes for how he'd theoretically go about passing his idol for the scoring record.
And former Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was sacrificed for jokes as well. Tagovailoa was cheered on by South Florida fans...until he wasn't. A steep decline in his career and multiple detrimental injuries have made him a symbol of mockery after signing with the Atlanta Falcons.
It was the most active day on NBA Twitter since Luka Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Spoelstra, a witness to many legendary performances as a coach, talked about just how grand Adebayo's game was.
"It was just an absolutely surreal night," Spoelstra said in his postgame interview. "Obviously, we've been blessed to have been a part of a lot of big moments in this arena. This one just happened. I'm grateful that we were all able to witness it. He had a monster first quarter and then 43 at halftime. We just talked about continuing to play our game, and the ball was finding him. Once he got 50, then we're thinking maybe he can get to 60. Then it was like, we might as well go for 70. And then I didn't dare even think about taking him out at that point. I didn't stop until once he got Kobe's."
For the Heat, it was another victory to stack in hopes of finally getting out of the Play-in Tournament. They play the Milwaukee Bucks (27-37) on Thursday night.
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Jayden Armant is a contributor to HeatRoundtable. He can be reached at jaydenshome14@gmail.com or on Twitter @jaydenarmant.