NBA star Bam Adebayo’s insane 83-point explosion destroys Kobe Bryant’s record, but he throws someone else under the bus amid ‘unethical’ accusations

The basketball world was still buzzing after Adebayo absolutely exploded against the Wizards, but not everyone was celebrating. Instead, a lot of folks were busy picking apart the circumstances of his incredible game. Some even claimed it was somehow “unethical” because of things like a ton of free throws and the Heat fouling strategically to get him more time on the court.

The team had its first real chance to respond ahead of their game against the Bucks, and both Adebayo and coach Erik Spoelstra took full advantage. They weren’t shy about sharing their opinions, collectively pushing back hard against the idea that Adebayo’s 83-point masterpiece is somehow worth less because of how it happened. While their individual approaches were a bit different, both guys delivered some pretty strong rebuttals to the criticism.

Coach Spoelstra spoke first, and he was blunt from the jump. According to Sports Illustrated, he made it clear he didn’t care if anyone was upset about the lengths he had his team go to, all in the name of getting Adebayo to that massive point total. “I apologize to absolutely no one. Period,” Spoelstra said.

So yeah, Spoelstra definitely wasn’t apologizing to anyone

The longtime Miami coach doubled down on his stance, declaring, “It’s a Tuesday night game against a team where they’re not playing for anything, where their organization is trying to lose. We’ve already lost a game in that kind of situation. We have players sitting out.”

The coach continued, “And I spoke to Bam about I want, as our best player and team captain, for him to be locked in and ready. And, he sure was. I would do it 10 times out of 10 again for Bam. I’m apologizing to nobody about this. I feel just so awesome for Bam, because he is about all the right things.”

After the game, where Adebayo scored 21 points, it was his turn to address the media. He adopted the same defiant stance as his coach, saying he didn’t care if people were mad about what happened, while also pointing out that the Wizards didn’t send a double-team until it was far too late. Debates like this around NBA strategy and criticism pop up often, similar to when Stephen A. Smith challenged Steve Kerr’s stance on fewer NBA games by comparing it to the NHL.

“First of all, y’all are blaming me. You should be blaming that head coach. Get that first. I was not the one that let me go one-on-one the whole game until I had 70 and then started to send a double [team]. At that point, I had 70 with, what, nine minutes left to go in the game. You think I’m not going for it?” Adebayo told reporters.

He continued, addressing the “unethical” talk head-on. “That’s the thing that’s crazy when they talk about the unethical part of basketball,” he continued. “I’m like, ‘I had 70 with nine minutes to go.’ Who would just be like, ‘You know, coach? Just take me out.’ Yeah, right.” he said.

Then, following in Spoelstra’s footsteps, the star center delivered a cold line of his own. “You can’t be mad at that. If you are mad, I don’t care. Because a lot of people, if they did play, they never had a chance to get that close to chasing greatness. And if you get that close to chasing greatness, that’s the point of chasing it, so you can surpass it.”