Rich Paul and Max Kellerman Call Out ‘Foolish’ Kobe Bryant Fans After Historic NBA Night

Rich Paul and Max Kellerman were left disappointed with the reactions of Kobe Bryant fans after Bam Adebayo broke his scoring record.

Rich Paul and Max Kellerman Call Out ‘Foolish’ Kobe Bryant Fans After Historic NBA Night

Rich Paul and Max Kellerman on Kobe Bryant's fans (Image credits - Firstsportz)

In Short
  • Bam Adebayo scored a historic 83 points, surpassing Kobe Bryant's record of 81 points in a game.
  • The Miami Heat defeated the Washington Wizards 150-129, extending their winning streak to six games.
  • Rich Paul and Max Kellerman criticized Kobe fans for their emotional reactions to Adebayo's achievement.

Bam Adebayo put in a performance for the ages on Tuesday night.  If NBA fans had to guess one player to surpass Kobe Bryant‘s single-game points record of 81 points, no one would have named Bam Adebayo. On Tuesday night, the Miami Heat took on a struggling Washington Wizards at the Kaseya Center. Little did anyone know that history was going to be made.

Led by Bam Adebayo, the Heat registered a convincing 150-129 victory over the Wizards and extended their winning streak to six games. Known for his defensive abilities, Adebayo startled everyone with his offensive prowess on Tuesday.

Currently in his ninth season in the NBA, Adebayo has breached the 20 points per game average just once in his career and had a career-high of 41 points prior to the match.

Without their top scorer, Tyler Herro, it was on the Heat center to take up the scoring burden. Adebayo stunned the NBA world and recorded a career-high 83 points to go along with nine rebounds. He scored 31 points in the opening quarter, breaking the Heat record for points in any quarter. He finished the half with 43 points, a team record for any half.

Bam Adebayo broke several club records against the Wizards, but the biggest of them all is surpassing the great Kobe Bryant‘s record of 81 points to become the second-highest scorer in a game in NBA history. However, despite such a historic feat, it did not go down well with Bryant’s fans. The fans were heard booing at the Crypto.com Arena after the PA mentioned that Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat scored 83.

LeBron James’ longtime friend and agent Rich Paul, who has faced criticism from the NBA community for starting his own podcast, discussed the fans’ reactions with co-host Max Kellerman on Game Over podcast. Kellerman spoke about Bryant’s fans being emotionally attached to him.

Emotions about Kobe are overriding their judgement and it’s making them say foolish stuff about Bam.

Paul agreed with Kellerman and further added:

“I think you can do both. I think you can be very upset because you love Kobe, but we can’t diminish what Bam did.”

While Adebayo made a career-high seven threes on Tuesday, he shot a record 36 out of 43 free throws, which would have definitely rubbed the Lakers fans the wrong way. The 36 free throws made were also an NBA record, breaking the previous mark of 28 held by Wilt Chamberlain and Adrian Dantley. 

Ime Udoka on Bam Adebayo’s historic night

On an emotional and historic night for Bam Adebayo, the NBA world suddenly seemed divided over the quality of his performance. Along with Lakers fans, several other people were left unimpressed by Adebayo’s achievement. One of them was Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka.

Following the Rockets’ win over the Raptors, Udoka threw shade on Adebayo’s historic night in his post-match press conference.

Bam Adebayo
Bam Adebayo (Image credits – HeatMuse/X)

I saw he only made 6 threes but 40 free throws or something like that, tells the story right there and….the Washington Wizards.

It was an unfortunate response from a head coach. While Adebayo did break the record for the number of free throws, it was still an achievement that will be remembered for a very long time. The comments would have left a bitter taste in the mouths of Heat and Adebayo’s fans.

Rich Paul on the Miami Heat in the playoffs

With 16 games to go in the 2025-26 regular season, the Miami Heat are one of the most in-form teams at the moment. The win helped them climb up as they find themselves at sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 37-29 record and are in contention for a direct playoff qualification.

Speaking on Game Over, Rich Paul spoke about the Heat in the postseason.

You can never count out the Heat to beat you in a series. They can spoil your vacation plans, for sure.

Paul believes that the Heat continue to be one of the toughest teams to play against during high-pressure situations. Players like Adebayo and Herro know what it takes to go on a deep playoffs run, having made it to the NBA Finals twice before in 2020 and 2023.

Also Read: