Heat's Pat Riley Slams 'Bulls--t' Criticism of Bam Adebayo Making NBA History with 83-Point Game

Pat Riley isn't standing for any criticism of Bam Adebayo's historic 83-point game.

The Miami Heat president ripped the "bulls--t" criticism of Adebayo's scoring outburst, saying that those criticizing Adebayo are only doing so for online attention.

"It's bulls--t. It's all bulls--t," Riley said of the criticism, per the Miami Herald's Anthony Chiang. "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."

Many have criticized the way Adebayo got to 83 points, noting the historic amount of free throws he took (43) as well as the Heat's decision to foul the Washington Wizards late in the game to get the ball back to Adebayo.

Riley called those critiques "unjustified."

"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," he said. "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."

One such critic was Wizards head coach Brian Keefe, who ripped Miami's tactics in the fourth quarter.

"In the fourth quarter, it turned into not a real basketball game," Keefe told reporters.

BAM ADEBAYO FINISHES WITH 83

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Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said that he doesn't regret his decision to leave Adebayo in the game and let him go for Kobe Bryant's 81-point mark.

"I apologize to absolutely no one," Spoelstra said. "Period."

Adebayo also addressed his critics, saying that any other player would have taken the extreme measures to get to 83 if they had been in his shoes.

"At that point, I've got 70 with what? Nine minutes to go in the game?" Adebayo said. "You think I'm not going for it? That's the thing when they talk about 'unethical' basketball. I had 70 with nine minutes to go. Who would be like, 'You know what, coach, just take me out.'"

The discourse surrounding Adebayo's 83-point performance likely won't end anytime soon, but whether he is criticized or not won't change the fact that he posted the second-most points in a single game in NBA history.