Kobe Bryant went from superstar to legend on Jan. 22, 2006, scoring 81 points in a 122–104 Lakers win over the Raptors. For more than 20 years, Bryant’s name trailed just one other Hall of Famer on the list of highest-scoring games in NBA history: the great Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors against the Knicks during the 1962 season.
That mark stood in second place for 20 years and 47 days, until an incredibly unlikely star—Heat center Bam Adebayo—passed him, going berserk against the lowly Wizards by scoring 83 points. Adebayo had already surpassed his previous career high of 41 by halftime, shattering a host of Miami franchise records along the way.
