Heat’s Adebayo creates all-time night for those closest to him

www.miamiherald.com/sports/nba/miami-heat/article315042950.html

March 14, 2026

Just a few days before Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo’s historic night, his mother half-jokingly issued a warning.

“‘Bam, now, you know your grandmother and your aunt’s birthday is Tuesday on the 10th,” Marilyn Blount told her son. “You know you better score and win because she’ll come back and haunt you.”

Adebayo followed his mother’s directions and more, totaling 83 points for the second-highest individual scoring performance in NBA history to lead the Heat to a win over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday at Kaseya Center.

After the game, Marilyn’s brother called her and reminded her of something that stopped her in her tracks minutes after Adebayo’s 83-point explosion.

“He said that my mother died five years ago at the age of 83,” Marilyn said.

Tuesday’s historic moment wasn’t expected, but those closest to the 28-year-old Adebayo believe it was well-deserved.

“If anybody deserves it, he does,” said Kevin Graves, who was Adebayo’s AAU coach and is still a big part of Adebayo’s life as his manager. “If people knew how this kid works when no one’s looking, they would understand what Tuesday meant.

“Bam is a substance-driven person. He doesn’t complain. He doesn’t get mad. He ain’t going to say nothing when other people are acting stupid in the locker room. Bam is going to lead by example. That’s who he is.”

Graves has known Adebayo since Adebayo was 12 years old. Heat president Pat Riley has known Adebayo since the organization drafted Adebayo as a 19-year-old with the 14th overall pick in 2017.

“I’m so happy for him, because I believe he deserves that,” Riley said of Adebayo’s 83-point night. “He has that kind of work ethic. He’s a humble guy.”

Heat assistant coach Caron Butler, who has developed a close relationship with Adebayo since becoming a Heat assistant coach in 2020, was left reflecting on all the work he’s watched Adebayo put in over the years.

“It was special because just watching him behind the scenes,” Butler said, with the Heat taking a seven-game winning streak into a matchup against the Orlando Magic on Saturday night at Kaseya Center. “The hard work, sweat equity, every morning, every night, the games that didn’t go in your favor from an individual standpoint, and just grinding through it.

“Just being that anchor, talking him through it, saying that a moment would happen and he would be over-prepared for the moment. Didn’t think it was going to be that huge of a moment, but it was super historic, and he just kept prepping himself this entire last couple years for that.” Head coach Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat celebrates as Bam Adebayo #13 leaves the game during the fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center on March 10, 2026 in Miami. Megan Briggs Getty Images

Only Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game on March 2, 1962, is ahead of Adebayo. The three highest-scoring individual performances in league history now belong to Chamberlain (100 points), Adebayo (83 points) and Kobe Bryant (81 points on Jan. 22, 2006).

“You’d have to rank it up there as one of those great experiences, those great moments,” Riley said. “Nobody came to that arena that night expecting that kind of performance from anybody. And it happened. And you could see the energy in the crowd. You could see everything and the attention in the crowd just simply go right to Bam, and the love for Bam was off the charts.”

When Adebayo arrived to Kaseya Center for a morning workout hours before tipoff, Butler noticed something different.

“That morning, we came in here, we shot, he was moving super fast, he was twitchy, and I was just like, I don’t know,” Butler recalls. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. … I was like, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but he’s going to have a really good game, because he was just locked in.”

With Heat rotation regulars Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, Kel’el Ware and Andrew Wiggins out due to injuries on Tuesday, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra then relayed a message to Adebayo.

“We have players that are sitting out and I spoke to Bam about I want, as our best player and team captain, for him to be locked in and ready,” Spoelstra said.

So, Adebayo locked in and went through his usual pregame routine.

Adebayo ate a brunch-like pregame meal on Tuesday that included chia seed pudding, French toast and turkey sausages. Then shortly before tipoff, Adebayo snacked on peanut butter balls and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

“Our meals vary on game day,” Adebayo’s private chef Terique Epps said. “We typically get high protein, small amount of fat and easily digestible carbs on game days, and sometimes it varies. We really adjust his menu based off of how he’s feeling and what his body is telling him. … We want to make sure that the fuel that he’s receiving can give him the energy that he needs to perform at that high level.” THE GAME

Adebayo, who entered Tuesday averaging 18.9 points per game this season, came out and was aggressive from the start of Tuesday’s contest.

Adebayo scored 25 of the Heat’s first 29 points during a first-quarter barrage that included four three-pointers and a two-handed driving dunk over Wizards center Alex Sarr.

“The first quarter, man,” Graves said when he knew Tuesday could be special for Adebayo. “When I saw him make all the threes in the first quarter and I saw his aggressive nature, when he went left two dribbles and dunked on Saar with two hands. I was like, OK, I see something a little different tonight with the aggressiveness.

“And that was the point in my mind where I said, OK, Tyler is not out here. I was like, oh, Wiggs is not playing. Wow, Kel’el Ware is in street clothes. And that’s when I said, you know what? He’s going to go crazy tonight. I didn’t know it would be 83, but I knew he was going to lose his brain.”

Adebayo went on to finish the first quarter with 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field, 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range and 6-of-7 shooting from the foul line. Not only did this set a franchise record for the most points by a Heat player in any quarter, but it also marked the fifth-highest scoring quarter by a player in the NBA’s play-by-play era that began in the 1996-97 season.

The only NBA players who scored more than 31 points in any quarter since the 1996-97 season are Klay Thompson (37-point third quarter on Jan. 23, 2015), Kevin Love (34-point first quarter on Nov. 23, 2016), Carmelo Anthony (33-point third quarter on Dec. 10, 2008) and Karl-Anthony Towns (32-point third quarter on March 14, 2022).

“I was sitting in the lounge in the first quarter and Kevin [Graves] and I were looking at each other and he hits two back-to-back threes,” Adebayo’s foundation director Victoria Shabazz said. “We’re like, wait a second. I was like, oh, I got to go out there and look and watch the game.”

Adebayo kept it going for the rest of the night.

Adebayo entered halftime with 43 points to set a new franchise record for the most points by a Heat player in any half and also tie Giannis Antetokounmpo (43-point second half on Dec. 13, 2023) for the fifth-most points in any half by an NBA player since the start of the 1996-97 season.

“I thought the second half, if they continued to call the game the way they did, Bam was continuing to really be aggressive, go to the basket, and they would get in early foul trouble, that he could get some numbers,” Riley said.

The question was how long would Adebayo play, with the Heat ahead of the Wizards by double digits for the entire second half and pushing its lead up to 28 points with 6:43 left in the fourth quarter on the way to Tuesday’s 21-point win.

Entering the fourth quarter, Adebayo had already broken the previous single-game Heat scoring record of 61 points set by LeBron James in March 2014. Adebayo totaled 62 points through three quarters and the Heat began the fourth quarter with a 16-point advantage.

“In the third, I said I was like, ‘Oh, they’re probably going to sit him,” Shabazz said. “I said that to [Adebayo’s longtime girlfriend and WNBA icon A’ja Wilson], they’re definitely going to sit him because you started to see the Wizards getting visibly aggressive. I was like, there’s no way that Spo leaves him in to risk an injury.”

But Adebayo was back on the court to begin the fourth quarter, and he was up to 70 points with 9:05 to play. Then only 11 points behind Bryant’s 81-point display, Spoelstra allowed Adebayo to play the entire period despite the lopsided score before pulling him from the game with 1:08 left in the fourth quarter.

“Once we had that much time left, and he was at 70, probably I would have said something to him like, ‘Don’t you dare get hurt. Just avoid everything except for offense,’” Riley said with a laugh. “… Once he got to 70, I said, ‘Hell, just let him go.’ I think Spo did a great job because he went into a zone defense. And from a defensive standpoint, he didn’t really have to guard cuts, he didn’t have to guard anybody one-on-one or that kind of thing. So he was not sitting back in the zone, but the zone helped conserve some of his energy and also protect him defensively. And then at the other end, though, he was just attacking, attacking.”

With history in sight, Spoelstra and teammates made sure Adebayo got the ball on nearly every possession and took most of the shots down the stretch on Tuesday.

Most of Adebayo’s fourth-quarter points came at the foul line. With the Wizards sending two, three and sometimes four defenders at Adebayo to try to get the ball out of his hands in the final minutes, he was left trying to draw contact in order to get scoring opportunities on his way to going 14 of 16 at the foul line in the final quarter.

“I’m sitting on the court. I have floor seats,” Graves of the Wizards’ fouls on Adebayo in the final minutes. “I’m watching them knock his arms off, his shoulders off, pushing him, grabbing him.” Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) gets water poured on him by his teammates after he scored 83 points against the Washington Wizards, marking the second-highest single-game point total in NBA history, on March 10, 2026, at Kaseya Center in Miami. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com

In fact, Adebayo’s final two points of the night came at the foul line. He made two free throws with 1:16 left in the fourth quarter to complete his 83-point masterpiece on Tuesday.

Along with scoring the second-most points in a game in NBA history, Adebayo also set NBA records for free throws made (36) and attempts in game (43).

“Man, you can go in the gym right now by yourself, shoot 100 shots and be fatigued with no one chasing you, guarding you, no contests, and he literally just did it,” Butler said. “He imposed his will. And even at the end, he was fighting to get open with three defenders on him, and he still was able to get to the foul line and have a historic night.”

THE AFTERMATH

Immediately after the final buzzer sounded on Adebayo’s 83-point outburst, teammates doused him with their water bottles.

Adebayo then made his way over to Heat managing general partner Micky Arison and chief executive offer Nick Arison for congratulations before sharing the moment with his mom, girlfriend and inner circle.

A sweat-soaked and water-soaked Adebayo hugged his trainer, Ronnie Taylor, Graves and Wilson.

“They doused him with the water at half court. I had on a pink suit, man,” Graves said. “My suit was almost hot pink. I had to take my jacket off because it was so wet. I don’t care about that suit, man. I was so happy. I was so happy. I don’t give a damn if he would have taken the water and poured it on me. Real talk, that’s how happy I was for him.”

Then Adebayo went to his mother, with a photo of their embrace capturing a teary-eyed Adebayo hugging Marilyn. What the picture didn’t document were the tears running down Marilyn’s cheeks.

“When he grabbed and hugged me, he said, ‘Lord, thank you, Ma. Thank you, Ma,’” Marilyn said. “Oh my God, I couldn’t help but cry. I had my back turned because they didn’t really see me on the camera, but they really got Bam. Boy, that was, oh, that was the happiest moment. And then to do it on my mother’s birthday and my sister’s birthday. That’s incredible.” Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat embraces his mother after a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center on March 10, 2026 in Miami,. Megan Briggs Getty Images

The praise poured in from Adebayo’s peers and others afterward. But there was also outside criticism that the Heat manipulated the game to get Adebayo to 83 points on Tuesday, with the Heat intentionally missing a free throw and committing at least one intentional foul in the final minutes to get Adebayo extra possessions down the stretch of the game.

**“It’s bulls—. It’s all bulls—,” Riley said of the criticism. “It really is. Anybody who is negative on it, anybody who was cynical about it, anybody who talked about it the way they talked about it in a negative way, they’re trying to either get views, hits, or they’re podcasters and that’s their job.

“There are critics today that are just so unjustified in what was going on with the tactics, and we were fouled, and they were fouled. The same thing happened with Wilt Chamberlain when he got 100 back in the day. But I don’t buy any of that. They took an iconic, absolute incredible performance, and they tried to dismiss it. And that’s not fair.”**

Butler, who became friends with the late Bryant after spending one season as his Los Angeles Lakers teammate, believes Bryant “would have been proud of” Adebayo for passing him for the second-highest individual scoring performance in NBA history.

“Every record is made to be broken,” Butler said. “When I was with the Lakers, I used to watch Kobe have an NBA calendar of historic moments, all the statistical moments in the history of the game, and he would literally know, alright, Jordan had a historic night this night, and he would chase history. He was chasing ghosts. He used to always say that, I’m chasing ghosts. And that’s exactly what Bam did on that night.”

Following the game, Adebayo needed to fulfill media obligations after his historic night. He then left Kaseya Center, but there was no celebration.

Instead, Adebayo arrived home around 1 a.m. early Wednesday morning for some rest.

“We’re not focused on going to no restaurant. That’s not us,” Graves said. “That’s why Bam is who he is. He learned early how to turn down the turn up.”

But Adebayo did make sure to keep his jersey, sneakers and the ball from his 83-point outing. He’ll eventually showcase some of his gear from that memorable night in his house.

Meanwhile, Marilyn is retiring the red Heat jersey she wore Tuesday with the name “Captain Mama Bam” on the back. She plans to frame the jersey and hang it in her home alongside the photo of her postgame embrace with Adebayo.

Riley made sure to keep a box score from Adebayo’s magical 83-point night. He’s going to ask Adebayo to sign the box score before he frames it to hang in his office.

“It’s one of those surreal games,” Riley said. “Wilt is not a 100-point scorer. Kobe is not an 81-point scorer, but he can do that. And Bam is not an 83-point scorer, but he can do that and he did that.”

Adebayo will frame his jersey from that legendary night alongside other meaningful jerseys he has framed on a wall in his house. But at the center of all those framed jerseys in his home is what’s at the center of his story.

At the center of his jersey wall, Adebayo has an 8-foot-by-6-foot framed photo of the green single-wide trailer home that he grew up in. As a single mother working as a cashier at the Acre Station Meat Farm, Marilyn raised Adebayo in that single-wide trailer home in Little Washington, North Carolina.

On Tuesday night, Marilyn was left shaking her head in awe of how far they’ve come after Adebayo scored 83 points on her late mother’s birthday.

“I told him, ‘Bam, I know mama was jumping for joy up there in heaven for you, boy,’” Marilyn said. “That was a blessing.”