The buzz around Bam Adebayo’s 83-point heroics has attracted more backlash than compliments. It appeared that the Miami Heat big man’s big night now fell under the ‘technicality’ radar. However, boss Pat Riley doesn’t approve of all the hatred that his star and the franchise have been facing. Therefore, the 80-year-old took the first chance he got to shred the critics.

“It’s b——-,” Riley told the Miami Herald. “It’s all b——-. 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.”

Riley then cited Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game and drew similarities.

“The same thing happened with Wilt Chamberlain when he got 100 back in the day,” Riley continued. “But I don’t buy any of that. They took an iconic, absolutely incredible performance, and they tried to dismiss it. And that’s not fair.”

Riley was referring to Chamberlain’s legendary 100-point game on March 2, 1962, against the New York Knicks, in which the Knicks intentionally fouled other Warriors players to deny Chamberlain the ball and limit his scoring opportunities in the fourth quarter. It prompted the Warriors to retaliate with their own intentional fouls to regain possession and feed him, mirroring the tactical fouling chaos seen in Adebayo’s game.

Adebayo’s explosion more than doubled his previous career high of 41 points and shattered the Heat’s franchise single-game scoring record, previously held by LeBron James at 61 points in March 2014, instantly cementing his place as one of the most dominant individual outbursts in team history.

While praise flooded in for Adebayo after the explosive 83-point night, criticism followed quickly. Some claimed the Heat steered the game to boost Adebayo’s total, even missing a free throw on purpose and committing an intentional foul late for extra possessions. In reality, the closing minutes were chaotic. Miami held a 25-point lead in the fourth with Adebayo already at 77. Coach Erik Spoelstra even challenged an offensive foul to keep the run alive. However, the review failed as the bench still celebrated.

Then the stat sheet turned wild. Adebayo launched 43 shots, including 22 threes, and buried 36 of 43 free throws to set records. Defenses swarmed him with double, triple, even quadruple teams. Meanwhile, the Heat fouled Wizards players four times to stretch possessions. On the other side, the Washington Wizards tried their own tricks. They fouled Keshad Johnson to block Adebayo’s free throws, yet also hacked the latter 26 times, another NBA record.

Adebayo set new NBA single-game records with 36 made free throws, surpassing the previous mark of 28 held by Adrian Dantley (and tied others like Wilt Chamberlain in earlier eras), while being fouled 26 times- the most drawn by any player in a modern-era game. It was 12 times more than Adebayo had ever been fouled.

Following the 150-129 loss, Washington Wizards head coach Brian Keefe aimed at Miami and Adebayo.

“They kept him in the game, and there were a lot of foul calls, 16 free throws in the fourth quarter,” Keefe said. “[We were] just trying to take the ball out of his hands. The fourth quarter just turned into not a real basketball game.”

Now, after days of such remarks, Adebayo finally clapped back.

Bam Adebayo rips the Wizards’ head coach

“Everyone wants to be mad at me, but be mad at their coach for not doubling me when I had 30 in a quarter,” Bam unhesitatingly said on The Dan Patrick Show.

The host also pushed back on the criticism. He reminded everyone that Adebayo already had 64 points through three quarters without any outrage. Then he questioned the narrative, asking why the spotlight remained on the final minutes rather than judging the full performance.

“Their coach started fouling my teammates, so I couldn’t shoot free throws,” Adebayo slammed. “So, it wasn’t like it was just like all the Miami Heat are just in (expletive) the game away. That’s not what it was. It was also them being like, in order for Bam not to get this record, we’re just gonna file his other teammates when they touch the ball. That’s unethical basketball to me is like whatever y’all want to call it.”

Basketball chaos often leaves behind one burning question. What truly counts as greatness?

Adebayo’s night now lives in that storm. Critics kept shouting while Riley roared back. The Wizards complained, and Adebayo fired back. Meanwhile, the debate keeps spinning. Still, one thing feels clear. A performance this wild refuses to fade quietly.