Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo went off on a historic scoring binge on Tuesday night, besting a record previously held by the legendary LeBron James.
Adebayo, now in his ninth season, looked unstoppable in the first quarter of his team’s game against the lowly Washington Wizards, making shot after shot on the floor of his team’s home arena. That equated to an impressive 31-point performance in the first quarter alone.
It became the most points ever scored by a Heat player, surpassing the previous mark of 25 points set by King James, now with the Los Angeles Lakers.
On X (formerly Twitter), the Miami Heat shared a highlight reel of all of Bam’s shots from the historic first quarter. Those included a stepback inside the paint, several swish three-pointers, and a Euro-step in the lane to connect on a shot.
It wouldn’t be a nuclear scoring effort from Bam without at least an aggressive drive to the hoop for a vicious slam dunk.
“You gotta love this,” a commenter emphatically said after one of his threes, and “Why not?” after another hit.
After Bam’s 30th point, part of the highlight reel showed one of Bam’s Heat teammates with his hands on his head, seeming in disbelief over the multi-time All-Star’s night, so far.
Leading up to this particular performance, Bam had never scored more than 19 points in a quarter. Once the Heat and Wizards reached halftime, his total was at 43 points for the night.
By the time the game’s third quarter ended, Bam had bumped it up to a 62 performance for his evening. With his team leading by almost 20 points, it seemed likely he would head to the bench for the final quarter to rest and embrace the moment.
A 60-plus-point night would further put his name in the NBA history books alongside other stars and superstars who have recorded significant stats, such as James Harden, Devin Booker, and Damian Lillard.
Among legends who scored 60 points or more are iconic figures like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and, of course, Wilt Chamberlain, with his historic 100-point game.