Jaylen Brown Defends Bam Adebayo, Says Wizards Are More Deserving of Criticism for 83-Point Game
Boston Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown defended Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo from criticism Friday after a portion of the NBA fanbase took to social media to question the manner in which he recorded the second-highest single-game point total in league history.
On Tuesday, Adebayo delivered a performance for the ages, scoring 83 points in a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards. That allowed him to surpass Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant's 81-point game for second on the single-game scoring list behind only Wilt Chamberlain's 100.
Some fans disparaged the accomplishment since Adebayo scored 36 of his points at the free-throw line, and the Heat intentionally fouled the Wizards late in a one-sided game in an effort to give Adebayo more scoring opportunities.
Brown isn't buying into that narrative, though, suggesting instead that any vitriol should be directed toward the Wizards since they couldn't stop Bam:
"Records are meant to be broken," Brown said. "I think two things can be true. You can look at the facet in which it was broken and complain, and you can also just acknowledge the fact that Bam Adebayo was having a great game and he did exactly what he was supposed to do. I don't see why there needs to be any criticism. If anybody deserves the criticism, it's the Washington Wizards."
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and Adebayo defended what happened on Tuesday night as well, with Spoelstra telling reporters, "I apologize to absolutely no one. Period."
Spoelstra added, "There was a moment, and when there's a moment in time like that, it's carpe diem. You have to go for it, and that was just thrilling. And I'm honored that we were all able to be a part of it."
Adebayo noted that the Wizards never double-teamed him until the fourth quarter when he already had 70 points, adding further credibility to Brown's assertion that the Wizards were to blame for Bam's historic performance.
"I've got 70 with, what, nine minutes left to go in the game? You think I'm not going for it? ... Who would be like, 'You know, Coach, just take me out.' Yeah, right," Adebayo said. "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."
While the Heat undoubtedly did things they wouldn't normally do in a typical game in an effort to get Adebayo beyond the 81-point threshold, Washington still had plenty of opportunities to stop him.
The Wizards had no real answers for Adebayo all night long, and the Heat exploited that en route to Bam delivering one of the greatest individual performances in NBA history.
