NBA players, coaches, legends react to Adebayo’s historic 83-point game for Heat
Heat center Bam Adebayo’s stunning and historic 83-point night — the second-highest scoring output in NBA history — triggered a torrent of reaction from the league’s players and coaches and NBA greats.
Adebayo’s iconic scoring night, achieved in a 150-129 Tuesday night victory against the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center, surpassed Kobe Bryant’s 81 points scored in a 2006 game against Toronto. Only Wilt Chamberlain has ever scored more points in an NBA game — 100 in a game in Hersey, Pennsylvania, in 1962.
“Incredible. Incredible; Seeing a guy like him doing something like this is incredible,” Milwaukee Bucks star and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “I know Bam. Speaks volumes about his hard work. He works his butt off every single day. He never cheats the game.”
Adebayo shot 20 for 43 from the field and made 36 of 43 free throws, breaking the league’s single-game mark in both of those free-throw categories.
But Antetokounmpo said: “It doesn’t matter how you get there. All that means is that 10, 20, 30 years from now, nobody’s going to remember the 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 how.”
More reaction:
▪ Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant: “I couldn’t believe it when I was hearing it in real time. I was like he’s got 30 in the first quarter? Congratulations to Bam, I know how much work he puts in. I looked at the stat sheet, it was pretty crazy. 40 shots, 40 free throws, 20 threes. That takes a lot of stamina, man. That’s something we are going to be talking about forever.”
▪ LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki and others acknowledged the achievement with posts on X:
Wade displayed a photo of former President Obama with the words “enough said,” adding “83 for cap [captain], enough said.”
James: “Bam Bam Bam,” followed by seven fire emojis.
Cavaliers guard Mitchell: “Chill out @Bamoneofone.”
Knicks guard Brunson: “Bro what”
Nowitzki: “83?????”
Former NBA player Theo Pinson said on X: “My goodness, Bam. Couldn’t happen to a better person.” Karl Anthony Towns: “Bam going crazy.”
Former NBA legend Paul Pierce: “Wait a minute. Bam got what?”
▪ Former NBA All-Stars Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter, on NBC’s Tuesday night NBA postgame studio show, praised Erik Spoelstra for leaving Adebayo in the game to break Bryant’s mark:
McGrady: “Twenty years from now, we will always remember where we were during this. I’m glad we got to witness this.” Carter: “That was dope watching him shoot his way into history. Congrats young fella.”
▪ Portland guard Damian Lillard, good-naturedly: “I taught that boy everything he knows... Bam is acting totally different right now. I don’t know what got into him.”
▪ 76ers forward Kelly Oubre, referencing teammate Joel Embiid’s previous 70-point game: “I’m kind of salty because he bested Kobe. He’s one of my favorite players for sure, but I’m just going to say this man: Joel did it efficiently, and he did it in three quarters.”
▪ Lakers star Luka Doncic: “83, not bad.”
▪ Lakers coach JJ Redick: “I walked in and said to my staff ‘the Heat are rolling.’ They said ‘are you kidding right now? Bam has 77!’ I watched the last 3 minutes and that was uh, different type of basketball.”
▪ Spurs star Victor Wembanyama: “Yes, I saw that. I think we play in a league where there are a ton of sources of inspiration to draw from.”
▪ Rockets coach Ime Udoka: “First thing you think is how — not because of him but because of the way he plays. I saw he only made six threes but 40 free throws or something like that, tells the story right there.”
Udoka then paused. “And the Washington Wizards,” he added, a reference to the poor quality of competition.
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 9:31 AM.
