Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo has drawn criticism for his 83-point game against the Washington Wizards
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo has taken plenty criticism for his big performance against the Washington Wizards last week.
He scored 83 points in a blowout victory, which is the second-highest in NBA history. He surpassed the great Kobe Bryant, who once scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors. Wilt Chamberlain set the record with 100 points.
While many have been critical about Adebayo, Hall of Famer Reggie Miller is among those who defended the performance. Many have said the Heat organization accomplished the feat on the purpose. Adebayo remained in the game despite the outcome being already decided.
Here's what Miller had to say about the criticism during an NBA broadcast.
"I don't care if its your local church league. You get a chance to go for history you go for it. I'm so tired of all these podcasters and all these guys who never played the game talking about 'they ruined basketball.' I do not care. 83 IS 83. For coach [Erik] Spoelstra and Bam to be getting a lot of hate from this."
Miller said the Wizards are to blame, if anyone.
"Your hate is misdirected because it should be toward the Washington Generals," Miller said. "I know they're the Wizards but the way they were playing, they looked like the Washington Generals. That's where your hate should be."
NBA media personality Bill Simmons agreed with Miller. He spoke about it on a recent podcast.
“Bam Adebayo [scored] 83 points,” Simmons began. “[It’s] in the running for single weirdest and most unexpected NBA achievement of my lifetime. A lot of people have been asking me over the last two days how I felt about this because they know I care about the history and stuff. First of all, I love when guys go for it because ultimately it’s a stupid regular season game. As you said earlier, when you have a chance to make history, you should go for it. But the biggest thing to me is when people say, ‘Well, that’s bastardizing the game, what they did at the end, Miami.’ Guess who’s bastardizing the game? F***ing Washington!”
Join the Community
Don't miss out on our ROUNDTABLE community and the latest news!
It's completely free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!
Shandel Richardson is the publisher of HeatRoundtable. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com