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Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said he doesn't care about any criticism over Bam Adebayo's minutes during his 83-point game during Tuesday's (March 10) win against the Washington Wizards.
"I apologize to absolutely no one," Spoelstra said Thursday (March 12) via ESPN. "Period.
Adebayo surpassed late Basketball Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant's 81-point performance by two points to now have the second-highest-scoring game in NBA history, 17 shy of late Basketball Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain's record of 100 points in a game. Critics, however, pointed out that the center attempted 43 shots and set records for free throws made (36) and attempted (43), while the Wizards quadruple-teamed him, appearing to purposely draw more fouls late to give him extra scoring opportunities.
"I've got 70 with, what, nine minutes left to go in the game? You think I'm not going for it? ... Who would be like, 'You know, Coach, just take me out.' Yeah, right," Adebayo said in defense of his performance via ESPN. "You can't be mad at that. If you are mad, I don't care. Because a lot of people, if they did play, they never had a chance to get that close to chasing greatness. And if you get that close to chasing greatness, that's the point of chasing it -- so you can surpass it."
Adebayo finished Thursday's win against the Milwaukee Bucks with 21 points, eight rebounds, two assists and one steal.