Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo dropped record 83 points in an NBA game. What's he being criticised for then?

Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo had his most memorable night in the NBA when he dropped 83 points against Washington Wizards on Tuesday (Mar 11) night. He's still being criticised. WIth the record, he now is second on the list of most points in an NBA game, behind Wilt Chamberlein's 100 points in 1962. The player he passed to move onto second was iconic Kobe Bryant who had scored 81 points against Toronto Raptors in LA on Jan 22, 2006. With only 1:35 left in the game, everybody expected Adebayo to exit and not cross Bryant's record but stand alongside him instead. The decision to continue and surpass Kobe, that too by just two points, is what Adebayo is being criticised for.

Why Adebayo is facing criticism despite scoring 83 points in an NBA game?

The fans, appearantly, aren't happy with the fact that Adebayo had a chance to share the record with legendary Kobe Bryant and he chose to surpass him instead. The emotions about Kobe, who passed away in an unfortunate helicopter crash in January 2020, is clearly still strong among the fans.

Bryant was one of the most effective NBA players with skills matching to greats like Michael Jordan and LeBron James in current era. Adebayo would have gotten the respect and admiration more than he's getting now if he had decided to call it quits at 81 points - the same as Kobe scored in an NBA game, rather going to his record 83.

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Why Adebayo was not taken out from game?

The Heat were already winning the game with just a minute and half left in the game when everyone though Adebayo will exit. Eric Reid, Heat's longtime play-by-play announcer, even told the viewers that Bam will make the exit once he reaches 81.

“Bam is going to make his exit here,” Reid said as reported by NYT's The Athletic. “He’ll be so happy to share this honor with the late, great legend, Kobe Bryant — one of Bam’s favorite all-time players.”

Heat's coach Erik Spoelstra, however, had different plans and said afterwards: "I didn’t even dare think about taking him out."

Bam exiting the game on 81 would have been a classy tribute to Kobe for sure but alas, he went on and as Reid later said, made "an indelible imprint into the history of the game."