It was only a matter of time before Pat Riley chimed in.
Ever since Bam Adebayo’s 83 points heard around the world, the most in the NBA on video and second all-time after Wilt Chamberlain’s infamous 100-point game on March 2, 1962, the Heat star has been getting criticized.
Riley, the Heat president since leaving the Knicks in 1995, spoke in defense of his beloved star, who surpassed Kobe Bryant’s keystone 81-point performance 20 years prior.
Adebayo’s been criticized for going after Bryant’s 81-point total in a “non-ethical” fashion by Kobe stans, internet wide, who maintain several ridiculous positions regarding the Heat big man’s feat.
“It’s bulls–t. It’s all bulls–t,” Riley told the Miami Herald regarding the nitpicking over Adebayo’s accomplishment. “It really is. Anybody who is negative on it, anybody who was cynical about it, anybody who talked about it the way they talked about it in a negative way, they’re trying to either get views, hits, or they’re podcasters and that’s their job.
“There are critics today that are just so unjustified in what was going on with the tactics, and we were fouled, and they were fouled. The same thing happened with Wilt Chamberlain when he got 100 back in the day. But I don’t buy any of that. They took an iconic, absolute incredible performance, and they tried to dismiss it. And that’s not fair.”
Adebayo’s been hammered for his lack of efficiency and high free-throw rate compared to other high scoring performances in NBA history.
He ended the night with 20-for-43 on field goals (46.5 percent), 7-for-22 from 3-point range (31.8 percent) and an NBA-record 36 free throws made on 43 attempts (83.7 percent).
Much of the blame should be on the Wizards for their lack of defense, constant fouling and overall tanking, which Heat coach Erik Spoelstra took exception to while defending Adebayo earlier this week, too.
“I apologize to absolutely no one,” he insisted. “Period.”
He added, “It’s a Tuesday night game against a team where they’re not playing for anything, the organization is trying to lose. We’ve already lost a game in that kind of situation. We have players that are sitting out.” he said, referencing Tyler Herro and Norman Powell among those not being available for the game due to injuries.
“And I spoke to Bam. I want, as our best player and team captain, for him to be locked in. And he sure was. … He approached that game appropriately.”
And revealed this weekend was another layer to Adebayo’s 83-point outburst.
The Herald also reported that Adebayo’s grandmother died five days before the game at age 83.
“‘Bam, now, you know your grandmother and your aunt’s birthday is Tuesday on the 10th,” Adebayo’s mother, Marilyn Blount — who was in attendance, as she typically is — told her son. “You know you better score and win because she’ll come back and haunt you.”
After the game, Blount recounted a call she received from her brother following the 83-point game.
“He said that my mother died five years ago at the age of 83,” she said, per The Herald.
