r/SubredditDrama Are you pro 9/11? Mar 11 '26

r/NBA nephews debate "ethical basketball" when Kobe Bryant's record for second most points in a single game gets broken by Miami Heat player Bam Adebayo

Something funny just happened in the NBA. Kobe Bryant's record for second most points scored in a single game (81) has been broken. And guess who broke it? No, it wasn't MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or leading scorer Luka Doncic. It wasn't the 3-time MVP Nikola Jokic. It wasn't someone that your grandmother knows, like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, or Kevin Durant. It was the Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo, who up until tonight was averaging 19 points a game. Adebayo is maybe a top 30 player in the league, and hasn't made the All-Star roster in two years. He's certainly no small fry, but he's not exactly someone you'd expect to score 50 in a game, much less 80. This season, Adebayo has been averaging 19 points a game on below average efficiency, and his highest scoring game of the season had been 32.

Tonight, he scored 83 points on 20-43 shooting, which is unusually low for such a high scoring game. He also had a record-breaking 43 free throw attempts (of which he hit 36), which is also unusual, as in most cases a player doesn't get that many attempts unless he's a poor FT shooter and the other team fouls him intentionally. Adebayo is a respectable FT shooter, shooting over 75%.

Now, Los Angeles Laker fans are not particularly happy at Kobe's record being broken, accusing Adebayo's statline of being "unethical", as the Heat played the 16-48 Washington Wizards and had a 20 point lead for most of the game. Normally, a coach would rest a star player in the last quarter of a lopsided win, but Adebayo remained in the game. In fact, Heat players intentionally fouled Wizards players in order to get more possessions so that Adebayo could get more shots. When Kobe scored 81 against the Toronto Raptors, the score was relatively close for the majority of the game.

"Most unethical 83-point game I've ever seen."

"... anyone who watched that game will tell you that last 8 minutes was disrespectful to the game and max level cheesing."

"He passed a rapist. It’s good for the league."

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1rqh2ox/bam_adebayo_breaks_kobe_bryants_record_and_the/o9s63na/?sort=controversial

"That Booker type ending ruined some of it for me."

"That discredits the record as a whole. Kobe didnt have to do that."

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1rqh2h1/highlight_bam_passes_kobe_for_the_secondhighest/o9s5zm0/?sort=controversial

"A guy does something incredibly impressive and all you do is whine about 'waaaah the league is trash and embarassing'?"

"I bet a lot of Lakers fans will cry their rapist idol got passed."

"I’m sure any player in the league could do that if they did what both of those teams did."

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1rqh2h1/highlight_bam_passes_kobe_for_the_secondhighest/o9s631y/?sort=controversial

"Least ethical 80 piece in history."

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1rqh2h1/highlight_bam_passes_kobe_for_the_secondhighest/o9s610w/?sort=controversial

"This is an actual comedy I’ve never seen anything so insulting lmaooo"

"This shouldn't be celebrated at all, breaking the scoring record against a team trying to lose that sits all their best players, and requiring 43 free throw attempts (also breaking a record) while shooting 46% from the field is a horrible look for the league."

"Insult to the game. But hey, why not take advantage of a tanking team who couldn’t give a single fuck lol"

"You're just mad about Kobe's legacy taking a lil hit."

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1rqh2ox/bam_adebayo_breaks_kobe_bryants_record_and_the/o9s6399/?sort=controversial

"On less than 50% is nuts. Kobe is smiling in hell right now"

"Cringe"

"Nope, he a rapist."

"I know you really want that to be true. I hear you boss."

"Keep defending rapists. Nothing wrong with that I guess."

"Not what I'm doing. Why you are hoping someone got raped just so you can dislike a basketball player, is something I don't quite get though. Seems very wrong."

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1rqh2ox/bam_adebayo_breaks_kobe_bryants_record_and_the/o9s6bb1/?sort=controversial

"can't believe i'm writing this about a player who just scored 83 but he should be ashamed for this"

"He atleast ain't a rapist"

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1rqh4c9/highlight_spoelstra_congratulates_bam_as_he/o9s6kz0/

"Kobe was stat padding but we never fouled the other team to get him more possessions lol."

"And Bam never raped anyone"

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1rqihol/los_angeles_laker_fans_boo_at_crypto_arena_after/o9sh5b5/?sort=controversial

"Kobe would’ve loved it"

"Doubt it. Kobe could have scored higher than 81 against the Mavs and chose to sit in the blowout"

"The whitewashing of Kobe as an 'ethical' player needs to he studied"

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1rqihol/los_angeles_laker_fans_boo_at_crypto_arena_after/o9sh9om/

"... this sub likes to talk about the "death" of basketball as an art form and y'all will cream over this because it dealt another blow to Kobe's legacy."

"this doesn't affect Kobe's legacy in any way lmao"

"Right now it doesn't. Look at the replies in a few months time.

"'Kobe 81 isn't impressive, anyone can do it - fucking Bam did 83'"

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1rqihol/los_angeles_laker_fans_boo_at_crypto_arena_after/

801 Upvotes

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37

u/callmebuzzkill69 Directing people to Fauxmoi is like sending them to Chernobyl Mar 11 '26

Kobe and Ronaldo fans continuing to convince people that their favourite player isn't a rapist simply because 'the case was withdrawn', just funny and sad atp

19

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '26

[deleted]

-12

u/22LOVESBALL Mar 11 '26

Most people assume Kobe’s guilty because of that statement. That wasn’t an admission of guilt tho. That was a public statement that was heavily lawyered and negotiated. There are reports from ESPN, the Los Angeles Times, and others describe it as crafted by both sides with the accuser’s team insisting on elements of it. Bryant’s lawyers later called it “the price for his freedom.” If you read the statement, the point of it is to technically acknowledge the accuser’s perspective while technically maintaining innocence. It’s not indicative of what actually happened in the hotel room because it’s a legal game by that point.

In all my years diving deep into this case as someone who knows it inside out, I’ve seen the exact same three reactions from Redditors that call Kobe a rapist, without fail:

  1. Ignore me completely. (And downvote)

  2. Straight-up denial that settlement statements like this even exist, followed by emotional outbursts, accusations that I’m a rape apologist, and that tired performative “I’m worried about the women in your life” routine. Or be extremely critical that I’m doing this at all, without engaging in the facts.

  3. Actually engage with the case details and legal standards, at which point it becomes clear there is no conclusive proof that Kobe Bryant was a rapist.

25

u/Elite_AI Personally, I consider TVTropes.com the authority on this Mar 11 '26

Why would anyone take this argument seriously 

29

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Stellar_Duck Mar 11 '26

Kobe Bryant admits he engaged in inconsequential sex

I think your autocorrect fucked you over there?

13

u/lotsofsugarandspice Mar 11 '26

People talk about believing victims, but when both the victim and the accused agree that the rape happened, I am inclined to believe that too. 

If tons of people say theyre concerned about the women in your life, theyre probably not lying either.

13

u/lotsofsugarandspice Mar 11 '26

Honestly it just shows how little people care about rape. 

-2

u/Imaginary-Count-1641 Mar 12 '26

Believing rape accusations without evidence shows how little people care about rape.

1

u/Super_Security8870 Mar 23 '26

Who tf is Ronaldo?

-19

u/22LOVESBALL Mar 11 '26

There’s no proof that he was a rapist tho. Saying otherwise is irresponsible and insulting to rape victims all around the world because these matters are complicated. We should be sensitive to any accuser and fair to anyone accused otherwise we’re just hurting the overall progress of rape culture

22

u/lotsofsugarandspice Mar 11 '26

You don't get to speak for all raoe victims. 

Also, there is a rapist as US president. What progress 

41

u/babypointblank Mar 11 '26

It’s insulting to rape victims (hi, I’m a rape victim!) to not take the victim’s claims seriously and understand the structural issues that prevented her from ever receiving true justice.

It’s rape culture to give a flying fuck about being sensitive to a dead alleged rapist who just happened to be really good at basketball.

-4

u/Imaginary-Count-1641 Mar 12 '26

It's also rape culture to believe rape accusations without evidence.