Heat's Adebayo says hotter shooting could have toppled Wilt Chamberlain's 100
The short version
- Adebayo scored 83 against Washington in March 2026, the second-highest single-game total in NBA history.
- He shot 20-of-43 from the field and 36-of-43 on free throws, with 31 points after one quarter, 43 at halftime and 62 after three.
- On the Makeshift Podcast, he said a more accurate shooting night could have put him past Wilt Chamberlain's record of 100, set in 1962.
- Adebayo defended his 43 free-throw attempts, saying he was fouled throughout the game.
- Miami was missing several starters that night, leaving him playing alongside bench and two-way players.
The Heat center, who scored 83 against Washington in March, told a podcast that an efficient shooting night might have taken him past Wilt Chamberlain's NBA-record 100.
Bam Adebayo says the NBA's most storied individual record was there for the taking on the night he scored 83 points for the Miami Heat. Appearing on the Makeshift Podcast, the Heat center revisited that performance and argued that a sharper outing from the field might have carried him past Wilt Chamberlain's 100.
The game came in March 2026, when Adebayo scored 83 against the Washington Wizards — a figure exceeded in league history only by Chamberlain himself. The effort leapfrogged the 81 Kobe Bryant scored and installed Adebayo at No. 2 on the NBA's list of highest individual totals in a single game.
Adebayo points to his shooting line as the clearest sign of the opportunity that got away. He connected on 20 of 43 attempts from the field and 36 of 43 from the stripe, and his cumulative total read 31 points after one quarter, 43 at halftime and 62 heading into the fourth.
Asked about the record, he pointed to his accuracy — or the absence of it. "I had 83 on a bad shooting night. If you really look at it. If you're lights out, like, why not? I would have passed Wilt," Adebayo said.
He also described conditions he felt were ideal for an enormous individual effort. Miami entered the game without a number of its starters, leaving Adebayo to share the floor largely with reserves and players on two-way contracts. Once his first-quarter total reached 31, he understood a special night was in play, and he kept producing even while bracing for Washington to commit extra defenders to him.
No part of the box score drew more scrutiny than his 43 free-throw attempts, with some observers suggesting Adebayo had deliberately hunted the contact to build his total. He rejected that reading of the game. "People say, man you shot 43 free throws. If you watch the actual game and not just the last minute and a half or whatever it was. I got fouled the whole game," he said.
Adebayo maintained that the contact he absorbed over the course of the game was real rather than orchestrated, and he added that once officials made their calls, the job of converting the resulting free throws still belonged entirely to him.
Chamberlain reached 100 in 1962, and the figure has remained the league's single-game standard for more than sixty years. Adebayo's 83 now ranks directly behind it and ahead of Bryant's 81, and by his own account the gap to the very top was narrower than the final number suggested.
Miami's next game comes Saturday, October 3, when the Heat visit the Toronto Raptors at Videotron Centre. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM EDT, and viewers can catch the game on NBA TV.
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