Reggie Miller & Carmelo Anthony Defend Bam Adebayo Day After Charles Barkley Dissed 83-Point Effort

Several former players are coming to Bam Adebayo's defense pointing out how difficult it is to score in double digits in the NBA.

Reggie Miller & Carmelo Anthony Defend Bam Adebayo Day After Charles Barkley Dissed 83-Point Effort

Bam Adebayo, Carmelo Anthony, Reggie Miller, and Charles Barkley (Image via FirstSportz)

In Short
  • Reggie Miller and Carmelo Anthony defended Bam Adebayo's 83-point game against criticism.
  • Critics questioned Adebayo's performance and the Miami Heat's tactics late in the game.
  • Charles Barkley acknowledged Adebayo's talent but expressed concerns about his scoring method.

Over the past few days, Bam Adebayo has been praised and criticized in the same breath by fans, members of the media, current, and former players.

Many of them are in awe of the Miami Heat center, who no one felt was a standout scorer. They were quick to praise how difficult it is to score 20 points in an NBA game, let alone that surreal number.

But most were on the other side of the fence, questioning head coach Erik Spoelstra‘s tactics late in the game, with some even going to the extent of saying that Adebayo should have stopped at 80 in respect of Kobe Bryant.

The latter’s fans have been the most vocal, pointing out how their late superstar would have subbed himself out if his team was leading by double digits.

However, both Spoelstra and his team leader made it clear that the Washington Wizards were starting to close in, something many just did not talk about.

I don’t care if it’s your local church league. You get a chance to go for history, you go for it. I’m so tired of all these podcasters and guys who never played the game talking about ‘they ruined basketball.’ I do not care. 83 is 83. For Spoelstra and Bam to be getting a lot of hate from this, your hate is misdirected.

Reggie Miller said

The Hall of Famer felt that most of the criticism was coming from those who had never played the game. Moreover, the criticism should have been directed at the Wizards, who did not put up a fight until late in the game.

Bam Adebayo gets further support

A short while after Reggie Miller gave his opinion, NBC colleague Carmelo Anthony threw his support behind Bam Adebayo by citing how difficult it is to score in the NBA.

Bam Adebayo with his mother after his 83-point performance
Bam Adebayo with his mother after his 83-point performance (Image via Heat Nation/X)

I don’t care how everybody felt about his 83, he got 83. If you ever played this game before, you know how hard it is to score 10, 20 points… Bam, I take my hat off to you… Don’t let anybody take that away from you. Listen when it’s time to grab the moment, you go grab it.

Carmelo Anthony said

His Basketball Night in America colleagues Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter joined in to agree to that logic, calling out the critics who made noise about it unnecessarily.

Already, Max Kellerman has alleged that Kobe Bryant’s fans were behind this outrage, just as they tried to undermine the great Wilt Chamberlain. Ironically, this was four Hall of Famers defending Bam Adebayo, and all of them have played against the Lakers’ great.

More importantly, all four have always defended Bryant’s inclusion in the GOAT conversation. Therefore, this throwing of weight behind the Heat star comes at a time when some others are still critical of his achievement.

Charles Barkley subtly dissed Bam Adebayo’s effort

It has been five days since Bam Adebayo scored 83 points against the Washington Wizards, but even now, many are still talking about it. When it was Charles Barkley‘s turn on Inside the NBA, he said this:

I have nothing but love, Bam does everything right. But then, they showed the highlights. I’m like, ‘Yo man, I have some problems with it.’ I’m going to give him a pass because I love Bam, but some of that stuff in the 4th quarter.

Charles Barkley said

The former league MVP effectively subtly dissed both Adebayo and the Miami Heat, but suggested they were taking advantage of the fouls late in the game. He did criticize the Wizards for their role in this, and he also continuously reiterated how he loves the Heat center.

But even then, he could not stop himself from taking issue with how Adebayo managed to get to his number. Maybe that is why NBC’s Hall of Famers came out swinging in defense.

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