As the National Basketball Association nears the end of its regular season, players, coaches, and teams are hoping to end their seasons strong and set themselves up for deep playoff runs. Among these teams is the Miami Heat.
Currently sitting sixth in the East, the Heat have been on fire in their most recent games. Coming into their matchup with the Washington Wizards on March 10, they had won five straight and eight of their last ten.
While Miami’s fans came to the Kaseya Center hoping to see their team get a win, no one expected that they would also end up being firsthand witnesses to history.
The record for the most points scored in a single game by one player was set by Wilt Chamberlain, who used his towering height to drop 100 points in early March of 1962.
While some debate the legitimacy of the Big Dipper’s triple-digit outing, the NBA record book places him firmly at the top of the list.
Wilt’s record still remains intact today, with the only man to ever come close to touching it being Kobe Bryant. Twenty years ago, in 2006, Bryant hung an astonishing 81 points on the Toronto Raptors in front of an awestruck Los Angeles Lakers crowd.
For years, the hierarchy of single-game scoring leaders stood like this: Chamberlain in first, and then Bryant—19 points behind tying Chamberlain—in second.
Many NBA players today doubt whether fans will ever see a 100-point game again. Prior to March 10, only ten players had ever scored 70 points, and no one besides Bryant and Chamberlain had even surpassed 80.
But finally, on March 10, 2026, a new man joined the elusive “80-point club” and etched his name into NBA history forever.
Standing at 6’9″, Bam Adebayo is the starting center for the Miami Heat. He is a three-time All-Star, a five-time All-Defensive Team member, and he finished February of this season as the highest-ranked player in the league in individual defensive rating.
In his career, Adebayo has averaged 16 points per game. The most he had ever scored in a game was 41 points, which he accomplished over five years ago in 2021 against the Brooklyn Nets.
Adebayo had been slowly improving his offense across his nine-year tenure with the Heat, which all came to a head when he dethroned the late, great Kobe Bryant for second all time in single-game points, dropping 83 points on the Washington Wizards.
The New Jersey native was drafted 14th overall out of the University of Kentucky by the Miami Heat in 2017. He has been a key piece of the team ever since and was a major factor in their last deep playoff run in 2020, when Adebayo and the Heat became the first fifth seed to advance to the NBA Finals, where they would fall to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
But to say Adebayo was a major offensive threat earlier in his career wouldn’t be entirely accurate. Throughout his career, he has consistently been a defense-first player (as seen through his numerous defensive accolades), though certainly no slouch offensively.
Adebayo has been the key defensive piece the Heat have needed, allowing them to bring in players who lack some defensive prowess in favor of fast and effective offense, such as NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler.
During this season, the Heat also tried to make waves by trading for a generational talent in Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Prior to the trade deadline, Miami was one of Antetokounmpo’s top landing spots if he were to be traded. Despite all the rumors, nothing ultimately came from the situation, and Miami was devastated that they didn’t land what could have been the final piece of a championship-caliber roster.
Adebayo proved that the Heat are just fine, however, as he scored 31 points in the first quarter before adding another 12 in the second, already surpassing his previous career high of 41 by two points heading into halftime.
As Adebayo exited the tunnel to return to the court, he tacked on another 19 points in the third quarter. By the end of the third, Adebayo had surpassed LeBron James’ career high of 61 points, which had been a franchise record for the Heat. While this was already seen as a major accomplishment for both Adebayo and the franchise, he had set his sights on something bigger.
Entering the fourth quarter, Adebayo sat exactly 20 points shy of surpassing Bryant’s 81 points. The stunned Wizards threw every defensive scheme they could at him to try to stop Adebayo’s tear and salvage some dignity.
Adebayo often found himself guarded by as many as three defenders, which frequently resulted in him being sent to the free-throw line.
He ended the game having attempted the most free throws in NBA history for a single game, making 36 of 43.
Sitting at 81 points—tied with Bryant—Adebayo was sent to the free-throw line again after another foul by the Wizards. As the crowd chanted “MVP,” Adebayo sank the first and second free throws to give himself a mind-bending 83 points before he was finally taken out of the game to rest.
While no one could have imagined the performance Adebayo delivered on Tuesday, it was surely one worthy of being mentioned among the greatest games of all time. A performance so extraordinary that Adebayo may have already given the Heat a reason to someday send his jersey to the rafters and retire his number 13 when he calls it a career.
Perhaps, in that sense, it was a little bit of destiny. Despite the number often being linked to bad luck, Chamberlain—a center just like Adebayo—also wore number 13 in every game, including his 100-point game in ’62. Adebayo himself wears the number as a tribute to his mother, who was beaming while in attendance on Tuesday.
Adebayo joined a group so elite that only three players—including himself—are part of it. In doing so, he placed himself alongside two players widely considered among the greatest to ever play the game.
And it’s also worth noting—yes, the Heat did indeed win the game, beating the Wizards 150–129.
If nothing else, Adebayo’s performance proves that players can always improve, and with enough discipline, practice, hard work, and training, anything is possible.
