There’s no denying the special night for Adebayo, carving his name in the rock of NBA history by scoring 83 points in what was an dominating performance by Washington to a degree few have seen before. However, people have pointed to the 43 free-throw attempts, the team intentionally fouling to gain more possessions, and other instances to undermine the night.
If there is one word that has been going around the zeitgeist of social media comparing Adebayo’s game to Bryant’s in 2006, some say one is more “ethical” than the other. For Spoelstra, many who have made their voices known on the matter didn’t tune in to history, saying that, in itself, is “unethical.”
“I think most of the people that probably made comments, they didn’t watch the game, that’s irresponsible or unethical,” Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints. “You don’t even understand the context of the game, like it was a 13-point game. I remember going back to the huddle after I called the timeout, and [Assistant coach Chris Quinn] said, “‘Hey, we got to win this game, like we’re chasing something, and that’s great, but we got to win this game.’”
“It was a 13-point game with nine and change to go, and then bang, we hit three straight threes…and then his total kept on going up. Everything was, I would say, fairly conventional, if you want to say that, until it was the final two minutes, and then we have the autonomy to do whatever we want in those two minutes, whether people think it’s pure or ethical or not. What a spectacular moment for Bam and this franchise and the city.”
Asked Erik Spoelstra about critics questioning the “ethics” of Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game.
“I don’t care…I would do it 10 times out of 10 again…I think most people that probably made comments didn’t watch, that’s irresponsible or unethical…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/6iBMAi1P0A
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 12, 2026
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra: ‘I’m not apologizing to nobody’
The opinions coming out of Tuesday night were all over the place, with one reporter in The Athletic’s Sam Amick even saying that the Heat center in Adebayo should’ve checked out of the game before breaking Bryant’s mark to respect his legacy. As the talk will continue for the foreseeable future, Spoelstra doubles down on his actions to help Adebayo achieve association history.
“I don’t care, I’m not losing any sleep over what other people are saying about it,” Spoelstra said. “What’s ethical? What’s not? Is fouling a three-point shooter? That ethical or not? Is fouling a bad free-throw shooter and getting extra possessions, you know or not? Like all this stuff happened under two minutes, he had already broken a bunch of records, and we’re going to go for it. It was just an amazing moment to be a part of that.”
“And I would do it 10 times out of 10 again for Bam, I’m apologizing to nobody about this,” Spoelstra continued. “I feel just so awesome for Bam, because he is about all the right things, you know. And already in our walkthrough, he’s talking about the defense, and we got to bring our defense ready to rock tonight. But as a leader, the other night, you know, to set the tone for that game, those can be tricky games. I thought that was leadership personified, and then it just went on steroids from there, and it just became a snowball rolling down a hill.”
With people questioning the efficiency, it could be more proof that some weren’t following the game, as Adebayo scored 31 points in the first quarter, 43 in the first half, shooting 54 percent (13/24) from the field, 45 percent from deep (5/11).
Through three quarters, he had 62 on 49 percent shooting from the field (17/35), with the final frame being the highlight for people with the free throws, though Washington’s defense was poor and unable to stop Adebayo. At any rate, no one can take away from Adebayo that he has cemented himself among the greats as he looks to lead Miami into Thursday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks and beyond.
