On the hand, I totally agree with you - this was a great performance and an accomplishment worth chasing for Bam. Getting 83 under any circumstance is quite unbelievable and he deserves all the flowers for that. There have been lots of tanking teams who have gone up against lots of talented players and none of those stars has scored 83. On the other hand, part of what made the 81 point game so mythical was it felt like a) the closest anyone could possibly get to the impossible 100, so in a sense it was the modern single game scoring record, and b) it felt like the ultimate encapsulation of who Kobe was at some level, hitting tough shot after tough shot and putting the team on his back. Bam, a great player but arguably the third best offensive player on his own team, breaking that scoring mark, subverts both aspects. That to me is what causes the dissonance. Imagine if Malachi Flynn, instead of popping off for 50, went for 101. I think it would be an incredible accomplishment but part of it would feel strange to see such a hallowed record be broken by a fringe rotation player. Bam is obviously orders of magnitude better than Malachi but as a scorer he’s never been all that impressive and I think that’s what’s been leaving a funny taste in people’s mouths. With all that said, it’s a great moment for him, for the league and basically anyone who likes basketball except the Wizards.
I went on RealGM podcast this morning, and the host, Wes Goldberg (who covers the Heat full-time) said he thought it was the most unlikely game of all time, even moreso than the Flynn game ha. I think that's part of the fun!
It also makes me wonder if 100 isn't touchable after all. Faster pace (nowhere near as fast as when Wilt played, to be fair), and someone making more jumpers than Bam, and maybe an overtime period? I would've said no way before, but if BAM can do 83, I think it could be possible now. And I like thinking there are more possibilities in the world.
It’s funny because Zach Kram did an article at the Ringer https://www.theringer.com/2024/01/29/nba/wilt-chamberlain-record-100-points-nba-scoring-surge about who was most likely to break 100 and he identified Luka as the guy but I wonder if Luka’s slow pace of play would hurt him and if it does happen it’ll be out of nowhere like with Bam. I think you’ve convinced me that the joy of seeing someone do something special should make us want to see it happen no matter who or exactly how it goes down.
I love Basketball Poetry, and I totally get the preemptive strike against the never-ending need to hate -- on something, anything -- that fuels most of our online discourse. But. Can we not agree on some facts? He was 20-43 from the field. That's 46 percent. He was 7-22 from three. 22 threes! From a guy hitting them at a 32 percent clip? I wouldn't call that unstoppable. I'd call it something else. 43 free throws. That's not his fault. And he made them. But how many TEAMS had 43 free throws in the past month? I'm sorry, this doesn't seem like a performance for the ages to me. It was borderline disgraceful -- from both sides. We can agree to disagree.
Idk. He had 31 after the first quarter and 63 after the third, and the vast majority of his free throws came in the normal course of play.
As an entertainer, and let's not forget that's what he is first and foremost, Bam has an obligation to pursue history. And the Wizards leaned into it by triple-teaming him off the ball, fouling other players, challenging foul calls, etc. They DIDN'T want it to happen, which is what made it even better that it DID.
And it was fun! It had everyone talking about the NBA for a night, even people who haven't watched a regular-season game in years.
He got 47 points on 43 shots from the field. There is no way this can be considered a magical performance. It was a free throw shooting exhibition. It was terrible basketball. It was boring. The very same night Buzelis gets 37 points on 28 shots from the field. Man, we were deprived of him getting 90 because the Warriors didn't give him 40 more free throws! Please don't say Bam "earned" his free throws. Half his shots from the field were from three. I agree it was an unlikely game. Because it was a travesty. And people who say so, somehow don't like basketball? The opposite.
He absolutely earned the free throws! Wizards certainly didn't "give" him 40 free throws. They couldn't do anything about him. If they had simply guarded him a little better instead of fouling, badly, every time, they would've been fine (relatively). He was airballing every jumper he took at the end because he was so gassed fighting through double and triple teams.
At no point did I say this was magical basketball. It was ugly as hell! But two teams desperately wanted to do a certain thing, and they were playing (and coaching) their asses off to achieve their goals. People always complain about the dog days of March basketball, etc. This was a game that developed real stakes.
The ending was ridiculous. It wasn't "serious" basketball, but how many tanking games are? At least it was incredibly competitive, in an untraditional way. In general, there aren't enough sources of joy in life. I'm certainly not turning away from this one!
Everything is subjective, and you're certainly not alone in your distaste. Nor do I think you dislike basketball because you disliked this game. We've talked enough over the years that I know better. But I genuinely can't fathom how a game like this makes people upset. It's an aberration, and in my opinion (which we won't agree on!), it was more enjoyable for it.
It's interesting you bring up tanking. I think this was worse than tanking. At least theoretically these teams that tank are doing so to get better down the road through lottery picks. This was a playoff team that repeatedly fouled a team they were beating by 30 points, simply to get the ball back for an individual record. In my book, that is worse. I don't care if the inept G-League players on the Wizards helped the charade by continuing to foul as well. But Bam was not unstoppable. He didn't even shoot 50 percent from the field. He did not earn that many free throws because he should not have had that many chances to get fouled.
And when Ricky Davis and Giannis infamously missed a shot to get a 10th rebound for a triple double, everyone screamed about it, and the NBA rescinded the triple doubles. But last night was OK? Back to my book, these were minor, funny incidents that didn't rewrite the record book. They made the players look a bit clownish.
Last night is a stain on the NBA. I wonder how people will feel if the same thing happens in a week or so. And then again. And again. Because this was not a black swan event. This was orchestrated. By people who collectively lost their minds -- and more, important, their integrity. No, I won't ever cheer that on. Because I see where it will lead.
loved the read- I also write about bball, check out my latest!
https://substack.com/home/post/p-190217041
'Because the hardest player to stop isn’t the one who gets hot.
It’s the one who never gets cold."
That's a nice bar right there
On the hand, I totally agree with you - this was a great performance and an accomplishment worth chasing for Bam. Getting 83 under any circumstance is quite unbelievable and he deserves all the flowers for that. There have been lots of tanking teams who have gone up against lots of talented players and none of those stars has scored 83. On the other hand, part of what made the 81 point game so mythical was it felt like a) the closest anyone could possibly get to the impossible 100, so in a sense it was the modern single game scoring record, and b) it felt like the ultimate encapsulation of who Kobe was at some level, hitting tough shot after tough shot and putting the team on his back. Bam, a great player but arguably the third best offensive player on his own team, breaking that scoring mark, subverts both aspects. That to me is what causes the dissonance. Imagine if Malachi Flynn, instead of popping off for 50, went for 101. I think it would be an incredible accomplishment but part of it would feel strange to see such a hallowed record be broken by a fringe rotation player. Bam is obviously orders of magnitude better than Malachi but as a scorer he’s never been all that impressive and I think that’s what’s been leaving a funny taste in people’s mouths. With all that said, it’s a great moment for him, for the league and basically anyone who likes basketball except the Wizards.
I went on RealGM podcast this morning, and the host, Wes Goldberg (who covers the Heat full-time) said he thought it was the most unlikely game of all time, even moreso than the Flynn game ha. I think that's part of the fun!
It also makes me wonder if 100 isn't touchable after all. Faster pace (nowhere near as fast as when Wilt played, to be fair), and someone making more jumpers than Bam, and maybe an overtime period? I would've said no way before, but if BAM can do 83, I think it could be possible now. And I like thinking there are more possibilities in the world.
It’s funny because Zach Kram did an article at the Ringer https://www.theringer.com/2024/01/29/nba/wilt-chamberlain-record-100-points-nba-scoring-surge about who was most likely to break 100 and he identified Luka as the guy but I wonder if Luka’s slow pace of play would hurt him and if it does happen it’ll be out of nowhere like with Bam. I think you’ve convinced me that the joy of seeing someone do something special should make us want to see it happen no matter who or exactly how it goes down.
I love Basketball Poetry, and I totally get the preemptive strike against the never-ending need to hate -- on something, anything -- that fuels most of our online discourse. But. Can we not agree on some facts? He was 20-43 from the field. That's 46 percent. He was 7-22 from three. 22 threes! From a guy hitting them at a 32 percent clip? I wouldn't call that unstoppable. I'd call it something else. 43 free throws. That's not his fault. And he made them. But how many TEAMS had 43 free throws in the past month? I'm sorry, this doesn't seem like a performance for the ages to me. It was borderline disgraceful -- from both sides. We can agree to disagree.
Idk. He had 31 after the first quarter and 63 after the third, and the vast majority of his free throws came in the normal course of play.
As an entertainer, and let's not forget that's what he is first and foremost, Bam has an obligation to pursue history. And the Wizards leaned into it by triple-teaming him off the ball, fouling other players, challenging foul calls, etc. They DIDN'T want it to happen, which is what made it even better that it DID.
And it was fun! It had everyone talking about the NBA for a night, even people who haven't watched a regular-season game in years.
Happy to agree to disagree here ha
Were the calls bad? Were the wizards trying to help Bam?
He got 47 points on 43 shots from the field. There is no way this can be considered a magical performance. It was a free throw shooting exhibition. It was terrible basketball. It was boring. The very same night Buzelis gets 37 points on 28 shots from the field. Man, we were deprived of him getting 90 because the Warriors didn't give him 40 more free throws! Please don't say Bam "earned" his free throws. Half his shots from the field were from three. I agree it was an unlikely game. Because it was a travesty. And people who say so, somehow don't like basketball? The opposite.
He absolutely earned the free throws! Wizards certainly didn't "give" him 40 free throws. They couldn't do anything about him. If they had simply guarded him a little better instead of fouling, badly, every time, they would've been fine (relatively). He was airballing every jumper he took at the end because he was so gassed fighting through double and triple teams.
At no point did I say this was magical basketball. It was ugly as hell! But two teams desperately wanted to do a certain thing, and they were playing (and coaching) their asses off to achieve their goals. People always complain about the dog days of March basketball, etc. This was a game that developed real stakes.
The ending was ridiculous. It wasn't "serious" basketball, but how many tanking games are? At least it was incredibly competitive, in an untraditional way. In general, there aren't enough sources of joy in life. I'm certainly not turning away from this one!
Everything is subjective, and you're certainly not alone in your distaste. Nor do I think you dislike basketball because you disliked this game. We've talked enough over the years that I know better. But I genuinely can't fathom how a game like this makes people upset. It's an aberration, and in my opinion (which we won't agree on!), it was more enjoyable for it.
It's interesting you bring up tanking. I think this was worse than tanking. At least theoretically these teams that tank are doing so to get better down the road through lottery picks. This was a playoff team that repeatedly fouled a team they were beating by 30 points, simply to get the ball back for an individual record. In my book, that is worse. I don't care if the inept G-League players on the Wizards helped the charade by continuing to foul as well. But Bam was not unstoppable. He didn't even shoot 50 percent from the field. He did not earn that many free throws because he should not have had that many chances to get fouled.
And when Ricky Davis and Giannis infamously missed a shot to get a 10th rebound for a triple double, everyone screamed about it, and the NBA rescinded the triple doubles. But last night was OK? Back to my book, these were minor, funny incidents that didn't rewrite the record book. They made the players look a bit clownish.
Last night is a stain on the NBA. I wonder how people will feel if the same thing happens in a week or so. And then again. And again. Because this was not a black swan event. This was orchestrated. By people who collectively lost their minds -- and more, important, their integrity. No, I won't ever cheer that on. Because I see where it will lead.
Fair enough!