On March 10, 2026, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo scored 83 points against the Washington Wizards, which is good for the second highest single-game scoring effort in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962. I have an article idea prepared regarding Mr. Adebayo’s historic performance. Unfortunately for the time being, the idea depends on Mr. Adebayo’s end-of-regular season statistics, so I will reserve it until the NBA’s regular season ends in April 2026. In the meantime, I can preview my eventual piece on Mr. Adebayo’s 83 points with my personal recollections of a prior historic scoring performance.
Prior to Mr. Adebayo’s 83-point effort on March 10, 2026, the second-highest single-player scoring performance in NBA history had been the late Kobe Bryant’s 81 points for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006. While I would love to tell you that I watched Bryant’s 81-point explosion live, I cannot lie like the tens of thousands of people who claimed to have been at the Wilt Chamberlain 100-point game. I lived in Brooklyn, New York City, which is situated outside of the local Los Angeles and Toronto markets, and that game was not nationally televised.
I was in high school back in 2006, as one can infer from my memories of seeing Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith on a class trip, the 2005 New York City mayoral election, my computer lab, and using Microsoft Publisher to design the high school newspaper. Back then, I woke up early in the morning to have breakfast and relax before going to school. My morning routine almost always involved turning my TV to ESPN’s Sports Center. I distinctly remember seeing the ticker note that Kobe Bryant had scored 81 points before seeing the highlights.
I had first started following the NBA in February 1997 and had an interest in and knack for memorizing NBA facts statistics (which has informed several NBA research articles here on NLJ, notwithstanding the fact that I have not closely followed the NBA since the 2015-16 season). For that reason, I knew off the top of my head that the only players to have ever scored 70 points in a game other than Wilt Chamberlain (who also had the previous second-best single-game effort of 78 and four other games with at least 70) were Elgin Baylor (71, 1960), David Robinson (71, 1994), and David Thompson (73, 1978). In light of the fact that NBA history is traditionally traced back to the inaugural BAA season in 1946-47, 70+ points was very rarefied air. Between Chamberlain and Bryant, the only two 70-point efforts, those of David Thompson in 1978 and David Robinson in 1994, came in the final game of the regular season in an effort to win the scoring title (Mr. Thompson’s 73 was not enough to over-take George Gervin, who needed 58 points to counter Mr. Thompson and managed a career-high 63, but David Robinson’s 71 gave him a narrow scoring title win over Shaquille O’Neal). Neither of those games occurred from 1997-2006 while I was aware of and following the NBA.
Despite the near-unprecedented nature of Bryant’s 81-point outburst, I distinctly remember feeling oddly unsurprised about the awe-inspiring number. Several weeks earlier on December 20, 2005, Bryant had poured in 62 points against the Dallas Mavericks in 32 minutes and 53 seconds of on-court time and sitting out for the entire fourth quarter. Through the end of the third quarter, Bryant had outscored the entire Dallas Mavericks team 62-61. That was a genuinely stunning performance, and I distinctly remember commentators having wondered at the time how many points Bryant could have scored had he played in the fourth quarter (the Lakers led 95-63 at the end of three, explaining then Coach Phil Jackson’s decision to sit Bryant in the final period). Bryant’s 62 points-in-three-quarters effort against the Mavericks in December 2005 established that he certainly could do something like score 81 on a great night and under the right circumstances. It is worth noting regarding Bryant’s December 20, 2005 performance that the Mavericks were 18-6 going into that game, finished the season 60-22, and made the NBA Finals (ultimately coming up two games short of the championship against the Miami Heat). While the Mavericks were much stronger on offense than defense, Bryant’s 62-point effort came against one of the NBA’s best teams that season.
In addition to Bryant’s 62 points against the Mavericks establishing that he could likely score 80 points in a game, he was having a monster scoring season leading up to January 20. In 36 games, Bryant was averaging 34.8 points per game, which was on pace to be the best since Michael Jordan averaged 35.0 in 1987-88 (Bryant would ultimately average 35.4 in 2005-06, which was the best since Michael Jordan averaged 37.1 in 1986-87 and remains ninth-best in NBA history). He had 50 on January 7 and 51 on January 19, and he had scored at least 40 in 12 out of 36 games.
(See every basket by Bryant and the full game on YouTube.)
One could make a fair case that Bryant’s 81 was the most impressive of the 70+ point scoring performances in NBA history (note that there were five 70-73 point scoring efforts between Bryant and Adebayo). Bryant had just 26 points at halftime and the Lakers trailed 63-49 at the break. Bryant scored 27 in the third quarter, which saw the Lakers carry a 91-85 lead into the fourth. The Lakers pulled further ahead in the fourth as Bryant poured in 28 points to get to 81. To the extent “purists” complained about the perceived artificial aspects of Messrs. Thompson’s 73 and Robinson’s 71 for the scoring title, the gymnastics the Miami Heat engaged in to give Mr. Adebayo enough looks to make it to 83 at the end of a blow-out win, or olden critiques of Chamberlain’s 100, many of Bryant’s 81 points came “in the flow” in a sense. The Lakers trailed for the better part of the first three quarters against the Raptors, and they only pulled ahead when Bryant transitioned from having a very good scoring night (26 in the first half was certainly very good) to a legendary one with 27 in the third quarter. Moreover, Bryant scored his 81 in regulation (a few of the 70+ point efforts required overtime, although none of the ones we discussed specifically). Bryant was efficient, shooting 28-46 from the floor (7-13 from three) and 18-20 from the free throw line. Of course, people who would prefer to nitpick than appreciate could find things to nitpick in Bryant’s 81 just as many fans of Bryant have done with Mr. Adebayo. The Lakers had the game effectively won when Bryant made his final push for 81, and the Toronto Raptors were the second worst team by defensive rating in the NBA that season.
But enough about stats. There were no big NBA fans in my class that year, but I had friends who followed sports (the NFL was always the most common one) and who followed the NBA to some extent or another. I mentioned to my friend that Bryant had scored 81. He did not believe me, which illustrates the enormity of the accomplishment (notwithstanding my note that 62 in three quarters weeks earlier served as foreshadowing). I was able to overcome his doubts and assure him that Bryant had in fact scored 81 points. We went out to our normal pizza place (very good small pan pizzas) for lunch. On the way to lunch or back to school, we stopped by a convenience store and bought the New York Times to view the box score. Sure enough, the box score confirmed what I had seen on TV: Kobe Bryant had scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors.
