Bam Adebayo made history on Tuesday night, shocking the NBA world with an 83-point outburst against the Wizards.
The game pushed Adebayo past Kobe Bryant for the second spot on the list of all-time scoring games in NBA history, trailing just Wilt Chamberlain and his legendary 100-point game.
Wilt’s 100 lives on as essentially a legend, with just a black-and-white photo to commemorate the occasion. When Kobe dropped 81, we all wondered whether it was the closest we would ever see to someone recreating Wilt’s achievement. With his monster game, Bam gave us new reason to believe that the most miraculous games basketball has to offer are still ahead.
The 80-point club is an exclusive one in the NBA, with Bam joining Wilt and Kobe as just its third member. After the win, Adebayo was asked what it meant to pass Bryant with his historic night.
“To me it’s wondering what he’d say,” Adebayo said. “To be 83 and you pass him, my mind is like, What would he say to me? Cause I always wanted to have a conversation with him. He’ll probably say, ‘Do it again.’ Just a surreal moment being in the company with somebody you idolized growing up.”
Adebayo’s 83-point game was just the 16th time in NBA history a player has eclipsed 70 points, and he’s the first to do it since Luka Dončić and Joel Embiid both reached the mark four days apart in January 2024. Wilt is the only player to do it more than once, and he did it six times, because most Wilt stats read like tall tales.
Below is a list of every 70-point game in NBA history. Who will be next to reach the mark?
| Player | Team | Points | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilt Chamberlain | Philadelphia Warriors | 100 | 1962 |
| Bam Adebayo | Miami Heat | 83 | 2026 |
| Kobe Bryant | Los Angeles Lakers | 81 | 2006 |
| Wilt Chamberlain | Philadelphia Warriors | 78 | 1961 |
| Luka Dončić | Dallas Mavericks | 73 | 2024 |
| David Thompson | San Francisco Warriors | 73 | 1978 |
| Wilt Chamberlain | Philadelphia Warriors | 73 | 1962 |
| Wilt Chamberlain | San Francisco Warriors | 73 | 1962 |
| Wilt Chamberlain | San Francisco Warriors | 72 | 1962 |
| Damian Lillard | Portland Trail Blazers | 71 | 2023 |
| Donovan Mitchell | Cleveland Cavaliers | 71 | 2023 |
| David Robinson | San Antonio Spurs | 71 | 1994 |
| Elgin Baylor | Los Angeles Lakers | 71 | 1960 |
| Joel Embiid | Philadelphia 76ers | 70 | 2024 |
| Devin Booker | Phoenix Suns | 70 | 2017 |
| Wilt Chamberlain | San Francisco Warriors | 70 | 1963 |
More NBA on Sports Illustrated
Listen to SI’s NBA podcast, Open Floor, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.
- SI:AM | 5 Fun Facts About Bam Adebayo’s 83-Point Game
- Jaylen Brown’s Ejection Shouldn’t Have Happened, and the NBA Knows It
- Bam vs. Kobe: Comparing the NBA’s Two Legendary 80-Point Games
- A’ja Wilson Was Just As Shocked As the Rest of Us at Bam Adebayo’s Stunning 83-Point Game
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Biggest Individual Scoring Games in NBA History: Bam Adebayo’s 83 Shockingly Overtakes Kobe.
