SAN FRANCISCO – Steve Kerr sided with his coaching peer Erik Spoelstra in the still-raging debate over the [ethical merits of Bam Adebayo scoring 83 points](https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/03/11/bam-adebyao-83-points-warriors-reaction-steve-kerr-steph-curry-porzingis/) against the Wizards on Tuesday.
“I respect what Spo said, he doesn’t need to apologize,” Kerr said during his pregame press conference on Friday. “He was doing it for his own team, and I respect that.”
Spoelstra kept Adebayo in the game even as the score became more and more lopsided in the Heat’s 150-129 victory.
He had his team foul the Wizards in an attempt to give Adebayo more shot attempts late in pursuit of surpassing Kobe Bryant’s 81 points for second place behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100. Some in the basketball ecosystem took offense to the Heat obviously chasing the record and stat-padding in the win.
Spoelstra did not care.
“I apologize to absolutely no one,” Spoelstra told media in Miami on Thursday. “Period.”
Adebayo made 20 of 43 shots, went 7 of 22 from behind the arc, and made a record 36 of 43 free throws as the Wizards hacked him possession after possession.
Kerr has plenty of experience with superstars on his team, whether it be Steph Curry or Klay Thompson, put up gaudy point totals in blowouts.
The coach usually pulled them either at the end of the third quarter or early in the fourth, hoping to avoid injury.
But Kerr also acknowledged that he had no issues with players chasing records, since he himself [allowed Thompson to do so](https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/10/30/golden-state-warriors-klay-thompson-vs-bulls-highlights-video-nba-record-3-pointers-twitter-stephen-curry-kevin-durant/) in an Oct. 29, 2018 blowout of the Bulls.
“As a a coach, you can feel awkward,” Kerr said. “I had that with Klay when he broke the 3-point record. He had 14 in Chicago to break the record. I think he was at 13 to start the fourth quarter and we were up big. I let him go, because i wanted him to get the record, the team wanted him to get the record.”
He remembered Thompson “launching” 3-pointers to end the fourth, missing his first three before finally making his fourth and etching his name in the record book.
“I couldn’t get him out fast enough,” Kerr said. “It worked out and everybody was happy. But yeah, it’s awkward, but you have a lot of mouths to feed and a lot of people to think about in those circumstances.”
Kerr’s memory was slightly off. Thompson broke the record with 4:53 left in the third quarter, not in the fourth. He made 14 of 24 3-pointers.
However, Thompson had missed his previous four attempts, so Kerr’s memory was not far off in that respect. And Kerr did sub out Thompson – along with the rest of his Hall of Fame starters – immediately after that basket with his team up by 41 points.
Eight years later, Kerr had no issues with Spoelstra — who will succeed Kerr as Team USA’s Olympic coach in 2028 — also doing what he could to get his player into the record books.
“I saw some highlights,” Kerr said. “It was one of those out of body experiences, and looked like the team was completely in and engaged and having fun with it.”