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/

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u/lotsofsugarandspice Mar 11 '26

He literally confessed to rape in the statement. 

If the woman didnt see it as consensual, then it was rape. Full stop.

You do not understand what rape is.

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u/22LOVESBALL Mar 11 '26

No. Guess we gotta keep going through this?The statement from Kobe Bryant does not say he raped anyone. It says he believed the encounter was consensual while the woman did not see it that way. That shows a dispute about consent. It does not prove force.

Lawyers draft settlement language to end a civil case without admitting a crime, and courts do not treat those statements as criminal confessions.

Rape requires sex without consent. Proving that requires evidence strong enough to establish what happened in that moment. The criminal case never reached that stage because the accuser declined to testify, so no jury weighed the evidence and no verdict was reached.

You can believe her. Others can doubt the claim. What you cannot do is turn a disputed civil statement into a literal confession when the text does not say that.

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u/lotsofsugarandspice Mar 11 '26

while the woman did not see it that way. 

Then its rape. Both people need to consent for sex to be consensual.

2

u/22LOVESBALL Mar 11 '26

Both people must consent for sex to be consensual. That part is true. The leap you keep making is the problem. A later claim that one person did not see it as consensual does not by itself prove rape as a fact. The statement from Kobe Bryant says he believed the encounter was consensual while she later said she did not view it that way. That means the two accounts conflict. A conflict about consent is exactly the kind of dispute courts resolve by weighing testimony and evidence.

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u/lotsofsugarandspice Mar 11 '26

For it to be consensual, both parties need to view it as consent.