I remember where I was when I found out Bam got his 83. Now, this isn't some crazy thing to say since it was three days ago, but I this was doing my Game of Thrones rewatch, I hadn't checked my phone or internet in a bit, and I just reloaded ESPN.com, and there it was with the "Breaking News" banner that Bam Adebayo scored 83 points. I couldn't believe it, and then I saw that the Heat scored 150, and it came against the tanking Wizards, and then I checked my phone and saw teh GroupMe group that was talking all about it and talking about how Miami fouled up by 20 to get more possessions, that the Wizards were triple teaming Bam, and that he shot 43 free throws. With all of that, it went from a "can't" believe it to a "don't want" to believe it.
Three days later, I'm still not a fan of it, but to be honest I think my issues are way more about the difference of 20-years of the NBA, of pace, of so many threes and free throws, of the death of the midrange and of different ways to play, of the complete unabashed-ness of the way teams tank these days, and all of those things coming together in this ridiculous way. This isn't about Bam - he was having an otherworldly game long before the tomfoolery began. This is about the issues in the NBA.
Well, it's also about the Heat fouling up by 20 to get more possessions. Out of all the madness of that game, that was the most mad, the most insane, the most patently unprofessional and unprecedented. I'm surprised the Wizards didn't throw hands, or at least complain loudly post game - maybe their lack of response has to do with the fact that the Wizards stopped trying weeks ago. I mean, when a player dunks late in a game when their team is up, the offended party cries about sportsmanship and all that. This was way worse. This was ludicrous. Take it to its final extent and truly every team can get their top player to any given score if they're willing to intentionally foul their opponent even when winning by twenty.
You know what's the more telling number in that game's box score to me, even more so than the 83? It was the 150 that the Heat scored, and how that didn't seem out of place. Hell, in 2006 if a team scored 150 in a game, taht itself might have gotten a "Breaking News" banner on ESPN.com, regardless of how many points the leading scorer had. We've become numb to scores of 130+ at this point, and even a 150 is just a "wow" instead of a "this is the most insane thing in years." Teams score a lot because the game is fast, sure, but also because teams shoot 40 threes a game, sure, but also because in the regular season most teams defensive efforts are super inconsistent, and of course tons of teams are tanking.
The tanking is reaching its apex (or nadir, depending on perspective) this year with a good third of the league doing it. The Wizards are one of those - trading for Trae Young because they can sit him, playing no names. Yes, in terms of pure logic and reason, it makes sense with the current draft rules, but it still saps the league of energy for so many fanbases, and makes scores like 140, 150 or more possible.
Then there's the free throws. Now, I will say that Bam earned all of them - this was foul hunting, it was trying to foul bait. Bam was getting hit hard, and hit stupidly (how the Wizards fouled so many times when they were triple teaming him at times....), but still seeing anyone shoot 43 free throws in a game is just maddening.
There is a certain detached, robotic, soul-less-ness around the NBA at times (mostly just a regular season concern). This feeling of moral superiority because the league has all collectively agreed to play roughly the same way and jack up threes and what not. It undoubtedly works, but it also creates for these types of moments that should be celebrated but are met a bit skeptically. Some of that is a hallowed Kobe moment being topped and the Kobe-stans going off, but behind that noise there is a lot of truth.
The worst part is that if not for the Heat's absolute, unabashed craziness of fouling up twenty to get more possessions, of having non-Bam players intentionally miss free throws in hopes of getting offensive rebounds, this may have truly been as much a moment to celebrate. The Heat didn't gamify their way to Bam's 31 points in teh first half, or 63 through three quarters (notably, one more than that Bryant game in 2006 against Dallas). The madness started when Bam had like 75, and if he ends with 77 or something, this is celebrated to no end, even if that 77 is due to all the maddening NBA factors that I noted above. Instead, the Heat decided to bastardize it to where it needs to be commented upon and, sadly, scorned a bit. The worst part is the league won't learn, and if anything what they may learn is taht you can gamify your way to scary point totals. Someone is coming for 100 - it just may take the fouling to begin in the second quarter for that one.
