Bam Adebayo entered NBA history on Tuesday, achieving the second highest individual scoring performance of all time — behind only Wilt Chamberlain’s legendary 100 points.
The Miami Heat centre scored 83 points in a 150-129 victory over the Washington Wizards, surpassing the previous second-best mark held by Kobe Bryant, who scored 81 points for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006.
Still seemingly out of reach remains Chamberlain’s 100-point game for the Philadelphia Warriors on March 2, 1962, with the fourth-best mark belonging to Luka Dončić, who scored 73 points for the Dallas Mavericks.
“It’s a special moment. It’s Wilt, me, and then Kobe — which seems crazy,” Adebayo admitted.
His previous personal best was 41 points, which he had already surpassed by half-time with 43, converting 20 of 43 field goal attempts and an incredible 36 of 43 free throws — numbers never before seen in the NBA.
Facing one of the league’s weakest teams and sensing that history was within reach, the Heat players did everything to help Adebayo, running every play through the centre and fouling early on Wizards possessions to give Miami more offensive time. The Heat’s second-highest scorer was substitute Simone Fontecchio with 18 points, while Alex Sarr scored 28 for the Wizards in just 19 minutes and 40 seconds after being rested in the final period.
