As the analysis of Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game continues throughout the week, the basketball world has been split by just how ethical the performance was from the Miami Heat and coach Erik Spoelstra to pursue the second-highest scoring game in NBA history so aggressively. But Bill Simmons would rather turn the micrscope in the other direction towards the Washington Wizards.
In the immediate aftermath of the historic occasion, the reaction from analysts and opinionists was to discount what Bam accomplished because of the way the Heat intentionally fouled to get more possessions and force-fed him the basketball. In fact, Adebyao shot an NBA record 43 free-throws in the game while not even shooting 50% from the floor.
However, as that dust settled, more voices spoke up to applaud Bam Adebayo and the Heat doing everything they could to support their captain in pursuing one of the truly great individual performances ever seen in pro sports in a single game. It led to reflections that all of us, but especially people in the basketball universe, need to not always race to the negative and actually celebrate and appreciate history when we see it. Because we literally might never see it again.
But in all of the conversation about Bam Adebayo, the role of the Washington Wizards has been largely forgotten. Even after trading for Anthony Davis and Trae Young, the Wizards have thrown in the towel on the season and are one of the many teams tanking for more ping pong balls in the draft lottery.
And according to Bill Simmons, that’s a greater affront to the game than anything the Miami Heat did this week.
“Guess who’s bastardizing the game! F—ing Washington!”@BillSimmons and @LegsESPN praise Bam Adebayo’s historic 83-point performance while trashing the Wizards for allowing it. pic.twitter.com/Cz4hKPVFdu
— The Ringer (@ringer) March 13, 2026
“First of all, I love when the guys go for it because ultimately it’s a stupid regular season game. As you said earlier, when you have a chance to make history you should go for it. But the biggest thing to me, and people are like ‘well, that’s bastardizing the game what they did at the end, Miami.’ Guess who’s bastardizing the game? F—ing Washington,” Simmons said.
“There’s 30 NBA teams. You’re all professional athletes. You’re all getting paid. F—ing stop the guy! Don’t whine about it. The rest of the league can’t be like (whining noises). These guys are professional athletes. You have a job! Go stop it! He’s got 70. Don’t let him score anymore. How does Bam have 30 in a quarter?”
Tim Legler responded that the Heat were without two of their best players for the night in Tyler Herro and Norman Powell, making their inability to stop Bam Adebayo even more inexplicable.
“Just from a pride standpoint, look, your team Washington, they’ve got 16 wins. Do you also want your team to have that? You want them carrying that around too,” Legler questioned.
It’s one thing to tank, but for the Wizards to also own having 83 put up on them is a whole different level of embarrassment for a franchise. Bam Adebayo had 30+ in the first quarter and 62 after three. He didn’t just jack up 50 shots in the 4th quarter from out of nowhere. Even when the Wizards were trying desperately to deny Bam in the late stages, they couldn’t do so without legitimately fouling him.
Instead of tearing down what’s good, maybe we should spend more time trying to challenge professional teams and athletes who willfully raise their game to an acceptable level of effort.