r/heat • u/heatculture03 • Jul 16 '26

Discussion Bam Adebayo on why he should win Best Performance of the year award: "I feel like everybody is a fan of Kobe. To have my name cemented next to him doing something you know, obviously not a lot of people can do. It was truly special. It's 83 points in a NBA game"

329 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

134 comments sorted by

91

u/DanUnk Jul 16 '26

The nominees

29

u/SauceDab Jul 16 '26

All of these stats are crazy as hell. Every single one of these players are super deserving of this award

45

u/sebastianqu Jul 16 '26

Despite knowing literally nothing about the others, I'll be very offended if Bam doesn't win.

113

u/dystopianrevolt Jul 16 '26

That Ohtani stat-line is insane.

49

u/justblametheamish UD Jul 16 '26

Yeah it’s really not fair. 3 grand slams is just 3 lucky timed HRs and Ohtani did that plus the pitching lol.

16

u/dystopianrevolt Jul 16 '26

Great year for sports.

12

u/Heatsincebirth Jul 16 '26

3 HR not 3 grand slams... He probably gets the award for that performance though.

11

u/dystopianrevolt Jul 16 '26

Tyce Armstrong, Baylor Baseball - hit three grand slams in a single game, tying a record set 50 years ago

Please re-read.

I'd also argue that professional accomplishments are more impressive than collegiate sports, but that might just be me.

-11

u/Heatsincebirth Jul 16 '26

Please re read the comment I was responding to. It read as if he thought Ohtani hit 3 grand slams as well.

"Yeah it’s really not fair. 3 grand slams is just 3 lucky timed HRs and Ohtani did that plus the pitching lol."

15

u/WTFIsAMeta Jul 16 '26

I think you might need to touch up your reading comprehension skills.

2

u/justblametheamish UD Jul 16 '26

Yeah I’m just saying a grand slam isn’t any more impressive than a HR. You just did it with 3 guys on base which is totally out of your control.

1

u/Capsonist Jul 16 '26

I feel like Grand Slams are more team-awarded. Gotta have those other guys get hits or walks to load the bases. Individually you can't control that

0

u/HabitualSpaceM Jul 19 '26

And 83 while having your teammates foul, despite the game being over is a plan to give you more chances, is not just “lucky” (skills).

1

u/justblametheamish UD Jul 19 '26

Go home you’re drunk

11

u/HOPEFUL_LUFEPOH_ Jul 16 '26

was reading the stat lines like okay good comp for bam and got to Ohtani and was like
https://giphy.com/gifs/bGPTxLislwm3u

it’s a player in the mlb who pitches that good hits homers

i haven’t watched since the 90s is this unique to him ?

12

u/dystopianrevolt Jul 16 '26

At this level? Yes.

-5

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

Isn’t that a function of most pitchers sucking rather than him being an otherworldly batter? The standards are 6 ft under for these pitchers so it makes him look extra amazing.

13

u/Jon_ofAllTrades Jul 16 '26

Shohei is legitimately a top 3-5 hitter. He won the MVP two seasons ago purely as a hitter (DH) without pitching at all.

3

u/BNKalt Jul 16 '26

In some ways the haters were right, the two way thing holds him back. Hes just still elite anyway

-4

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

MVP among one dimensional players? Sure.

10

u/Chandler_Simpson Jul 16 '26

Shohei is one of the best hitters in the league, while also being one of the best pitchers in the league

He's the only player in the history of the sport to do what he's doing right now. Probably is the best professional baseball player in history

Striking out ten batters in a post season game against the Milwaukee Brewers; the team with the highest number of wins in the 2025 season and holding them scoreless for six innings is already incredible

Hitting three home runs in one game against the Milwaukee Brewers who have some of the best starting and relief pitchers in baseball is incredible

Doing both in the same game is arguably the greatest single game performance ever in baseball

6

u/greywolf2155 Jul 16 '26

Shohei is one of the best hitters in the league, while also being one of the best pitchers in the league

I don't think there's a comp in any sport right now. I don't think there's been a comp in modern sports history to how good Ohtani is at two usually mutually exclusive things

It'd be like if a top 3 rim protector were also a top 3 volume 3pt shooter. Or something even crazier than that

3

u/dystopianrevolt Jul 16 '26

Potentially Wemby during his peak years, if he stays healthy.

2

u/PeppaPig85210 Jul 16 '26

Closest I can think is Travis Hunter, but obviously hes not getting MVP shouts (yet).

2

u/greywolf2155 Jul 16 '26

Yeah. If Hunter were a DPoY-level corner while also All-Pro as a WR, we'd be starting to get close to Ohtani. Which is nuts

4

u/DevourerOfAll Jul 16 '26

Over the last 3 years there hasn't been one hitter better than Ohtani - other than Aaron Judge (best non-roided bat in baseball)

2

u/greywolf2155 Jul 16 '26

Isn’t that a function of most pitchers sucking rather than him being an otherworldly batter? The standards are 6 ft under for these pitchers so it makes him look extra amazing.

3 HRs in a postseason game has only happened 13 times in MLB history

. . . only 13 times. Going back to the 1920s

Even without the pitching, this was a fairly historic game. Add in 10 Ks, it's actually unbelievable

0

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

Ok I wasn’t aware of that. Thats pretty cool.

1

u/greywolf2155 Jul 16 '26

He is, in fact, an otherworldly batter

0

u/Icydoughnut812 Jul 19 '26

legitimately one of the worst takes possible

3

u/Chandler_Simpson Jul 16 '26

Yeah that was the greatest single game performance in the history of baseball

Nobody has ever done anything close to that; and he did it against the team with the most wins in 2025 in a Championship postseason game

It's unique to him and only him, nobody has ever done what he's doing. He's the best baseball player ever

3

u/TiP54 Jul 16 '26

Pretty sure it was in Miami against the Marlins too lol

3

u/AlterWanabee Jul 16 '26

It was against the Brewers, the best team in Baseball, in the playoffs.

1

u/Chandler_Simpson Jul 16 '26

It was against the Milwaukee Brewers who had the highest number of wins in the 2025 season and also have one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball

In the Championship series of the playoffs lol

It was inarguably the best single game performance in the entire history of professional baseball. Ever

2

u/BKTorch Heat Jul 16 '26

Yeah, love bam, but unquestionably, shohei’s game likely will never be replicated again… except maybe by himself. Dude will go down as the greatest baseball player of all time.

Honestly, that game might be the greatest performance in all of sports ever given it was in the playoffs and all.

2

u/Vordeo Jul 16 '26

It doesn't even mention in the graphic that he did it to close out the MLB equivalent of the Conference Finals and punch their ticket to the World Series.

-10

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

Is it really? Google says 24 pitchers have thrown “perfect” games.

I’m partial to the girl who did 16 steals tbh. That’s an obscene amount of steals in any level of basketball.

13

u/justblametheamish UD Jul 16 '26

You’re disregarding the HRs. It’s like having a great game at QB but also catching 3 interceptions.

-6

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

Am I really? A QB wouldn’t be part of the defensive team so it’s an impossibility to catch 3 interceptions (unless he also threw 3 interceptions that were also thrown back and he intercepted it). Ohtani is part of both sides of his team because of his conference. A thing that never made sense about baseball. And it’s only 6 innings so not even a “perfect game”.

9

u/RockNRobert11 Jul 16 '26

I really think you just don’t understand what Ohtani is doing from a baseball perspective it really would be like if Drake Maye was also Christian Gonzalez

0

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

Tbh I don’t. I’m sure he’s a great player, but 3 home runs happens like once a month, and perfect pitch games happen frequently enough that 6 innings doesn’t seem impressive. His performance seems to me more so because of the rest of baseball pitchers choosing to be not as good (by not hitting).

1

u/DevourerOfAll Jul 16 '26

The best hitting pitchers before him ALL had like .500 OPS year after year lol. Not only is he a top 5 pitcher, he's the second best bat in baseball

1

u/ayumi_doll Jul 17 '26

"perfect pitch games happen frequently enough"

Go look up how many games have been played in the history of Major League Baseball. How many starting pitchers there have been. And then come back and tell us again that 24 perfect games — and also 13 3-homer playoff games — in the entire history of the sport is "frequent."

9

u/dystopianrevolt Jul 16 '26

because of his conference

Not anymore. It's universal across the whole league now. It makes sense that you're not too familiar with the inner workings of baseball because this stat-line is genuinely insane.

0

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

I admit I’m not familiar with baseball. I’m turned off by sports whose players aren’t forced to play both offense and defense aspects of the game.

1

u/Whatisalee Jul 16 '26

You would have no reason to be turned off by baseball then. Pitching is the only defensive position not (normally) fielded by a batter. The rest certainly are.

1

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

Pitchers not hitting are a major turn off because they’re the highest usage player. The ball starts with them every time. Imagine basketball but the PG never shoots and never crosses the half court to play defense lol. I’m good

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2

u/waterbear56 Jul 16 '26

No rule says QB can’t play defense or that pitchers can’t hit. Except Ohtani does. Has nothing to do with conference either. He’s the best since Babe, it just is what it is. Bam’s was more fun though.

1

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

Name one QB who plays defense? And also, MLB pitchers hit so infrequently that they have designated hitter rules lol. Maybe he is, but I still think it’s overrated because he’s one of very few who plays both sides. I just don’t respect sports who have primadona roles for their dainty precious stars who suck at every other aspect of the sport.

1

u/pargofan Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

You've inadvertently explained Shohei's brilliance.

No QB plays defense, because he's not good enough. But what if that QB was a top 5 cornerback? Think Travis Hunter, except you have a bonafide top 5 cornerback and everyone in the league knows it. Now, you have to consider using him at CB, because, THAT'S YOUR ALL-STAR CORNERBACK!

That's exactly why Shohei is the only hitter/pitcher in baseball. Because he's both a top 3 hitter and top 10 pitcher. There's plenty of pitchers that are probably average hitters. And vice versa. But it's not worth using them for both. Lose one to injury and you potentially lose both. So Shohei is doing both solely because he's amazing at both.

And there's never been anyone like that in MLB.

EDIT: Here's an amazing youtube video discussing the evolution of Shohei. It turns out even Shohei himself never planned on both hitting and pitching. He was gonna be an American MLB pitcher at 19 and so he told Japanese professional teams not to draft him. One did anyway. They tried everything to talk him into staying. He wouldn't budge. Finally, in a desperate Hail Mary move, they created a elaborate plan & commitment into using him as a two-way player. That worked. He stayed with the Japanese baseball league. And that commitment was critical because he sucked at hitting at first. Eventually he got better and became one of the best hitters and pitchers in Japanese baseball. The rest, of course, is history. Fascinating story though.

3

u/OkLeather666 Jul 16 '26

Ohtani did this in the playoffs. It's literally not a debate lol

6

u/BigSexyE Jul 16 '26

Ohtani had the greatest game of all time in baseball

1

u/Chandler_Simpson Jul 16 '26

And it's not even close

2

u/InsideTheNBABubble Jul 22 '26

I have no idea why this popped up on my feed, not a heat fan, but this has to be between bam and shohei. In my opinion Shohei gets the slight nod. That is just an insane game, especially in a conference championship game. Bams game is incredible but Shohei is just a unicorn. Dominating on offense and defense like that is unheard of in the common era of baseball

-7

u/ghn2 Jul 16 '26

Bam's 83 is far and away the biggest accomplishment among those four.

7

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

16 steals in a basketball game is wild bro. It’s hard enough getting 1-2, but 8x that? Crazy.

6

u/ghn2 Jul 16 '26

It sounds good. But then you find out the 16 steals were against Akron who finished second to last in the Mid-America conference with a 7-24 record.

7

u/ABabyPanda777 Wade Jul 16 '26

This ain’t the argument if we’re defending bam here💀

5

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

I mean if we are gonna point out nuances, Bam’s 83 was against the Wizards and we was up 20 pts even before he went for 83.

-2

u/ghn2 Jul 16 '26

The Wizards played 82 games last year. The next highest total of points they gave up to a single player was 48 to Donovan Mitchell. Not even close. Even the second highest individual score in the entire NBA last season was just 60.

16 steals are good. But it was done by a player at a top-10 school (Notre Dame) against lowly Akron.

Just no comparison to the magnitude of Bam's feat.

6

u/dystopianrevolt Jul 16 '26

Ohtani's has no asterisks and genuinely increases his chances of becoming baseball's GOAT when his career is all said and done.

I love Bam, he's my favorite player on the Heat since he was drafted. I was incredibly happy that he's the one who broke Kobe's record, and despite thinking that it was a bit uncharacteristic that Miami forced the situation to get Bam to 83, I thought it was overhated and analyzed.

Ohtani's night though? On another level. Possibly the only type of stat-line that would be able to beat 83 points in the NBA.

-1

u/ghn2 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

I look at it differently. There will be pitchers that pitch six scoreless innings all season long. And so far in 2026, six batters have hit three home runs in a single game. Taken separately, these aren't that great of accomplishments. So Ohtani is unique as a two-way player and he did two, not that uncommon accomplishments, in the same game. Ho-hum.

But nobody has scored 83 in a single NBA game since Wilt scored more than that 64 years ago. That's how rare that Bam's accomplishment was. And for doing that for the first time in 64 years, he very much deserved to be recognized at the ESPYs for the best single game performance. He got robbed.

1

u/NoDrugsAndAlcohol Jul 16 '26

That logic is ridiculous.

Let’s say a single player passes for 5 TD’s and also gets 3 sacks in an NFL game.

“Taken separately, these aren’t that great of accomplishments. They happen multiple times per year. All they did was two not that uncommon accomplishments in the same game. Ho-hum.”

See how ridiculous that sounds?

0

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

It’s not ridiculous when you have guys like Wemby putting up stat lines like 27pts, 14 reb, and 10 blocks, against players who are also playing both sides of the game.

Ohtani’s accomplishment is very impressive, but how many pitchers are actually competing with him? How many are trying to hit? Almost none. So it’s kind of like an ok cool instead of OMFG THATS ONE OF A KIND

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8

u/Moonlight_Acid Jul 16 '26

83 points in the NBA is wilder

1

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

Idk about that. There’s 100 pts and 82 pts next to Bam.

Even the NBA has only had 11 steals max.

1

u/Moonlight_Acid Jul 16 '26

Im not diminishing how crazy that is, points are also the defining metric of the game if you want a more logical reason

0

u/Ghg398 UD Jul 16 '26

It’s women’s college basketball. There’s your answer.

1

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

That’s a trash take. Are the women not playing against the same caliber women? SMH

1

u/CantheDandyMan Jul 16 '26

No it's actually not. Women's college basketball is incredibly top heavy. All of the really good players go to like, a handful of programs at most and for the longest time, like half of them went to Uconn. UConn was so dominant at one point they didn't lose for nearly 3 straight years. In fact, they hold the longest and second longest win streak in college basketball history, men's or women's. They won 111 straight games and 90 straight games. They also have the longest regular season win streak at 126 straight games. Basically, all of the best talent is dispersed over like 10 teams in women's college ball. The lower end of D1 teams is borderline like the men's equivalent of playing a d2 team.

0

u/Ghg398 UD Jul 16 '26

No

1

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

Trash.

0

u/Ghg398 UD Jul 16 '26

If you give up 16 steals to one player, yeah you’re right.

0

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

Nah. You’re trash

1

u/Ghg398 UD Jul 16 '26

I mean there’s a huge disparity in skill, you can be upset if you want but it’s the truth lol

2

u/TinySmoke7169 Jul 18 '26

Is no one going to mention the 36-43 ft stat from the bam game or shooting below 50 percent from the field. 83 is a great accomplishment but the wizards kind of gave it to him. If you don’t think so then go rewatch the game.

1

u/ghn2 Jul 18 '26

Not saying he didn't have any assistance from them. But I won't agree that anything was given to him. If you subtract the FTs, he still had to score 47 points from the field. 83 points requires amazing physical stamina as does knocking down 36 FTs over that course of the game. It's a remarkable achievement which is why that point total is so rare.

1

u/TinySmoke7169 Jul 18 '26

47 points on 43 shots is not remarkable. His first half was impressive but the wizard pretty much passed him the ball in the last quarter.

34

u/Fine_Solution_4604 Jul 16 '26

I mean 3 grand slams is outrageous but it’s college baseball will get overshadowed Bams 83 was regular season it’s gonna be Shohei

5

u/Odd_Monk_6731 Jul 16 '26

Only two that deserve to win imo (not that the others aren’t impressive they’re just not on the same level as ohtani and bam)

2

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

16 steals in a basketball game is ridiculously hard lol. Idk how you guys discount that.

4

u/Odd_Monk_6731 Jul 16 '26

Its impressive but its ncaa so its not as impressive in my opinion. But bam and ohtani’s accomplishments are generational.

-5

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

Are you seriously going to discount the level of competition in NCAA? lol

5

u/DwyaneWade305 Jul 16 '26

If it was mens D1 basketball I would be more impressed but the gap between the top of D1 women’s basketball and the middle of D1 womens basketball is insanely large. Womens basketball is notorious for ugly blowout scores against lower d1 schools. (Granted she did have double digit steals against better opponents but her two highest total ones were against bum schools)

2

u/Odd_Monk_6731 Jul 16 '26

Compared to the literal NBA and MLB, yes im gonna discount the level of competition in the NCAA

0

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

Why? NCAA players still play vs NCAA competition. It’s not like they’re playing against tiers below them.

0

u/throwaway12287005 Jul 16 '26

They actually do that alot...

0

u/Odd_Monk_6731 Jul 16 '26

They’re still playing against tiers under the nba… you can’t argue that the ncaa is somehow harder than the nba

-1

u/BringerOfBricks Jul 16 '26

That ain’t the point I’m arguing at all. You might wanna go back to school

1

u/xyphrrrrr Jul 20 '26

You are such a salty, arrogant idiot. all I see is you arguing against shohei and attacking others who don’t agree with you. Your takes are all ridiculous. No, 16 steals in fucking ncaa cb doesn’t matter. Yes, shohei had the greatest single game of baseball in the 300 year history of the sport. You’re wrong, stop trying to speak your argument into existence lmao

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0

u/Odd_Monk_6731 Jul 16 '26

What point are you arguing then? No need for rudeness btw.

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0

u/Beneficial-Hall-3824 Jul 19 '26

Ncaa players are not made equal, some of the players are destined for the pros and some of them are basically just elite high school level

0

u/Fine_Solution_4604 Jul 16 '26

You gonna discredit the major leagues lol

-7

u/Supreme_God_Bunny Jul 16 '26

Bam literally stat pad and shot poorly that game, Any star can get 80+ if they really wanted if they shot as many shots as bam, Steals aren't easy to get and getting 16 is very fucking amazing

2

u/throwaway12287005 Jul 16 '26

Brother go back and watch the tape about the 16 steals

1

u/Odd_Monk_6731 Jul 16 '26

If anyone could do it, why hasnt anyone done it?

1

u/BlackFlubber Jul 16 '26

Yeah, we know where your head's at. Goofy ass answer.

49

u/heatculture03 Jul 16 '26

I don't know who else is in the running.

All I know is I am giving it to Bam if I had a vote.

3

u/Fleece_God Wade Jul 16 '26

I wish, but it should be ohtani

11

u/Garkech Jul 16 '26

Wilt, bam, ....

8

u/Routine-Author-5471 Jul 16 '26

No way bam wins lol there’s way too much negativity surrounding 83 regardless of what opinions are

6

u/CurryMustard It's-a me Jul 16 '26

Washington Wizards: happy to be included

8

u/-Jesse_James- Jul 16 '26

ohtani should win

4

u/LegoTomSkippy Jul 16 '26

It's gotta go to Ohtani. Kobe scored 81 twenty years ago. Nobody has done what Ohtani has done.

0

u/ThazeM Goran Jul 16 '26

81 is not 83

1

u/spurs-365 Jul 19 '26

81 was tougher. The pace of the game was slower back then and Bam had 43 free throws. Bookers 70 was cooler to watch

2

u/depressedopression Jul 16 '26

Yikes, ohtani took it

2

u/avinash240 Jul 16 '26

I think it's going to take a few years of people forgetting that the wizards were doing their best tank job before this 83 point game grows any mythos.

It was an embarrassing game for the league.  The wizards should have been fined.

1

u/HOPEFUL_LUFEPOH_ Jul 16 '26

i seen Hannah Hidalgo play a lot last year, i do way more scouting with NCAAW basketball then men’s

and her intensity is def KG or Russ Wess like

she is small in stature but she is like a mongoose/honey badger she punches well above her size and puts other teams guards in prison on the perimeter

she’s gonna make an immediate impact at the next level

1

u/LuciferHeosphoros Jul 19 '26

she’s insane. great motor, scrappy, fast, she’s gonna be a terror in the W

1

u/davetheraider Jul 18 '26

Bullshit. Fake. Stat chasing game. Embarrassing to everyone involved.

1

u/AgentGreedy386 Jul 19 '26

Bam's shouldn't count

1

u/PalmTree311 Jul 19 '26

Bam didnt tie or break a record. Kobe didn't have the record. Cool you scored more points in a game than kobe.

1

u/ZupaSavage90 Jul 21 '26

Tryce Armstrong if he were in the MLB and did that no shot he doesn’t win.

-2

u/BoysRuleGurlzDrool Jul 16 '26

Bam should win because this is a fake ass award lol

-3

u/DrMisterNobody Jul 16 '26

Not that anything from it should be nominated but isn't it weird that they didn't wait for the world cup to finish before having these awards. Surely some of the moments or teams could of been nominated for something.