&#8216;Disgusted&#8217; Charles Barkley&#8217;s brutal Bam Adebayo verdict as Bill Simmons makes 100-point prediction

Mar 15, 2026 - 11:30

Charles Barkley slammed the ‘disgusting’ Washington Wizards for letting Bam Adebayo run up his record night for the Miami Heat.

Adebayo finished with 83 points in the Miami Heat‘s 150-129 win against Washington on Tuesday evening, the second most in a single game in NBA history.

Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat celebrates with teammates after a 150-129 win against the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center on March 10, 2026 in Miami, Florida. — Adebayo made NBA history last week, but his 83-point game has been widely criticised

With that impressive total, he wedged himself between two greats — Wilt Chamberlain (100 points) and Kobe Bryant (81 points) — in the history books.

However, the way Bam did it was far from vintage.

The Heat center went 20 of 43 from the field, 7 for 22 from 3-point range and made an NBA-record 36 free throws from 43 tries from the foul line (also a record high).

As the blowout came to a close, his Miami teammates also fouled Washington players to extend the game and allow the 28-year-old more chances to score.

Fans were quick to criticise how Adebayo’s historic night unfolded, and while he’s had some support from NBA greats, 11-time All-Star Barkley also took a dim view.

Charles Barkley tears into Bam Adebayo’s 83-point performance

“I like Bam Adebayo a lot, he represents everything that’s great in the NBA, so I’m not going to go crazy,” Barkley began, speaking on the ESPN Tip-off show.

“But listen, first of all, he’s so lucky he’s playing in 2026. We would have knocked him on his a**. We would’ve killed him back in the day.

“And I’m not doing any hyperbole or anything. In my day, if you’re up 20 and shooting a three, we’re going to put your a** in the stands. That was like an unwritten rule.

‘Chuck’ also revealed that there was one unnamed team that would hand out bonuses to its players whenever they ‘knocked the hell out of somebody’ who was trying to run up the score.

The Hall of Famer then slammed the Wizards for showing ‘no pride whatsoever’ as their tank continued against the Heat in historic fashion.

Charles Barkley breaks down Bam's 83 point game on ESPN — Barkley wasn’t impressed with Bam’s historic night, and slammed the Wizards

He said of Adebayo’s record: “When I first saw it, I said, ‘Man, that’s incredible… 83 points, flat out incredible.’ But then they had to show the highlights.

“I have some problems with it. I’m going to give him a pass, because I love Bam. And congratulations to him. But some of that stuff that was going on in the fourth quarter… I’ll be honest, I’m disgusted by the Wizards.

“As a competitor, you’ve got to go dirty. When you’re down 20, and the game is over, and now a team is like, ‘Just go for the record,’ you’re disrespecting me.

“I thought the Wizards, who’ve got no pride whatsoever, obviously they’re tanking, but you’ve still got to have pride. If a guy’s doing that, you’ve got to knock him on his a**.”

Shaquille O’Neal, sitting opposite Barkley, echoed those thoughts. He thanked his fellow legend for raising the point, and said he was ‘disgusted’ with Washington too.

Bill Simmons argues Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point record in danger

While the two basketball icons were unhappy with how Bam wrote himself into the history books, there’s a feeling that it will only be a matter of time until Chamberlain’s incredible 100-point game will be topped.

FILE - Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors holds a sign in the dressing room in Hershey, Pa., after he scored 100 points as the Warriors defeated the New York Knickerbockers 169-147, March 2, 1962. The number 100 has long been a magic one in the NBA, going back to the night Chamberlain scored a record 100 points, but in this era of the NBA, teams often need to score well over 100 just to have a chance at winning. (AP Photo/Paul Vathis, File) — NBA analyst Simmons believes Chamberlain’s legendary 100-point game is in danger

Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat celebrates during the fourth quarter of the game against the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center on March 10, 2026 — The historic record could fall if someone replicates Bam’s gameplan

Longtime NBA analyst Bill Simmons believes it could happen if someone else ‘replicates’ Adebayo’s gameplan.

“This was f***ing crazy, because if we did a draft, and drafted who would score 83 points, I don’t think he would be one of the first 50 picks,” Simmons said of Bam, on the latest episode of his podcast.

“It did make me think, I watched midway through the second quarter on, it did make me think somebody’s going to get 100.

“That 100 is going to happen, because he didn’t make a lot of his threes. He missed nine three throws.

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“There’s a replica of what he did in that game, that I think somebody else could do, who would just hit more threes.

“Did this make you think 100 points is possible… Luka (Doncic) was the guy I thought could do it.

“For somebody to do it, I think you’d have to hit 15 threes, and then go to the line 20 times… It’s crazy.”

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