Scoring 83 points is an achievement in its own right for any NBA player, but what makes Bam Adebayo's historic night even more special is the fact that he's largely a team-first player who doesn't generally look to score in an aggressive manner.
As Rich Paul states, it's part of the reason why it's just so unbelievable that Bam was able to pull off such a feat. It's another reason why it should largely be respected.
Bam doesn't have a score-first mentality
Bam doesn't come out every game gunning, trying to score as many points as he can. He has the reputation across the league as a defensive-first player, playing team-oriented ball on the offensive end of the floor.
The only reason he came out blazing against the Washington Wizards is that the Miami Heat were down Norman Powell, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Kel'el Ware, and Nikola Jovic in that game. In a way, if Bam didn't come out aggressively, the Heat weren't going to have much of a shot to win that game.
It just so happened that Bam found a rhythm early. He scored 31 points in the first quarter, and all bets were off at that point.
And the shots kept going in.
Once he broke the Heat's individual game scoring record, it just made sense to see how far he could go. In the fourth quarter, it was Bam's teammates that put him in a position to break Kobe Bryant's 81-point record.
Bam is one of the most respected players in the league
That speaks to the type of teammate that Bam generally is, and how rare a night it was evolving into. And it just adds to the lore of Bam's new record.
It's not necessarily in his DNA to be such a high scorer. His previous career high was 41 points. He is only averaging 20 points per game this season. Not because he's not a great player, but because he's a team-first guy.
Bam is the defensive anchor for the Heat; he's likely going to finish in the top 3 of the Defensive Player of the Year award. He's deeply respected by all his teammates.
On one night, he turned into a scoring machine. Do fans understand just how rare that performance was?
Sure, he had a lot of free-throw attempts, but it's the ultimate sign that the Wizards had no answers for him. The only way they could guard him was by fouling.
Bam scoring 83 points turned into one of the most polarizing events in NBA history when it shouldn't have. As Paul mentions, Bam is the ultimate team-first guy and doesn't necessarily go hunting for these types of performances.
It came about organically and that's one of the biggest reasons why it should be appreciated.