Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo addressed those criticizing him for surpassing Kobe Bryant for the second-most points in a single game in NBA history.
Adebayo appeared on “The Dan Patrick Show” Friday and was asked by Patrick if he ever considered stopping at 81 points to ensure he did not pass Bryant during Tuesday’s game against the Washington Wizards. The center answered with a firm no and said that while he never had the chance to meet Bryant, he firmly believes the Laker legend would have wanted Adebayo to keep scoring.
“I know if it was the other way around, Kobe would’ve said ‘I’m shooting for whatever I can get,'” Adebayo said. “I’m appreciative of it because it’s my idol. It’s somebody who I grew up watching.
“If the dead could talk, I firmly believe he’d be like, ‘Congratulations, young fella. You did something I thought nobody could even reach for the next 40, 50 years.'”
Bam Adebayo (@Bam1of1) says he never considered stopping at 81 to pay respect to Kobe, and is still heartbroken at the fact that he never got a chance to meet him.
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) March 13, 2026
"I know if it was the other way around Kobe would've said 'I'm shooting for whatever I can get'." pic.twitter.com/rF2Fikgp8w
Adebayo, who grew up idolizing Bryant, is likely correct. Bryant never eased off of anything he was pursuing. That has not been enough for some, including one of Bryant’s former teammates, to be quite unhappy and insinuate that Adebayo is not worthy of surpassing Bryant’s 81-point mark.
It is obvious that Adebayo has no regrets about how he pursued the mark, and the Heat feel the same way. To suggest that he should have voluntarily stopped trying to achieve such a rare accomplishment in deference to a player he idolized is ridiculous.
