Sixers react to Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game: ‘I’m kind of salty that he bested Kobe’
"I’m going to just say this, man, Joel did it efficiently, and he did it in three quarters," Kelly Oubre said of Embiid's 70-point performance in 2024.
As the Sixers wrapped up a 139-129 win over Memphis in South Philly, down in Miami, center Bam Adebayo was approaching history.
The Sixers’ locker room was abuzz watching Adebayo surpass Kobe Bryant’s 81-point performance in 2006 with 83 points against the Washington Wizards, the second-highest in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game.
VJ Edgecombe was glued to his phone watching as he walked into the room. The game was playing up on the big screen usually reserved for film review. You could hear equal parts cheers and groans as the Sixers watched Adebayo hit the free throws that helped him tie, and then take Kobe’s mantle with just the third 80-plus-point game in NBA history.
» READ MORE: Bam Adebayo scores 83 points, second-most in NBA history, in the Heat’s win over Wizards
Other players have broken 70 points in recent years, including Joel Embiid, who scored 70 against the Spurs in January 2024.
“It’s definitely legendary, the box score, right?” Kelly Oubre Jr. said Tuesday. “The number, and shoutout to Bam, right? He’s just implementing himself in history. I’m kind of salty that he bested Kobe. He’s one of my favorite players for sure. But I’m going to just say this, man, Joel did it efficiently, and he did it in three quarters.”
In that game, Embiid scored 70 in 36 minutes, 38 seconds on 24-of-41 shooting, making 21-of-23 free throw attempts. In his 83-point game, Adebayo went 20-for-43 from the field, including 7-for-22 from three-point range, and 36-for-43 from the foul line in 42 minutes.
Sixers guard Cam Payne joked that he wanted to make sure the focus was still on another historic night — his own 8-for-8 three-point night.
“I’m like, ‘Man, Bam can’t take my night,’” Payne joked. “Shoutout to Bam though. I’m a big-time Kobe fan, so that’s huge for someone to score that many points in a game, but man, I’m taking it. This is my night, March 10, that’s all me.”