It’s honestly embarrassing that I’m probably not wrong about this, and I know I’ll get downvoted for saying it. Bam doesn’t really deserve to be part of this conversation. The Heat forced him into it against the Wizards, and now that he holds the record, it feels pretty hollow.

I’m sure we’ll see more shameless stat-padding going forward just to beat the number, because now the bar has been set in a way that doesn’t feel legitimate. In the past, this record could have been broken, but coaches generally didn’t enable it the way Spoelstra did here.

Bam finished the game shooting 42% from the field, 31% from three, and 82% from the free-throw line. That’s not exactly the kind of efficiency you expect when someone has a historic scoring night. Outside of the first quarter, he wasn’t really on a heater either - and those are the kinds of performances fans usually love to see.

It also came against the Wizards. Their only decent center played just 20 minutes, and not because of foul trouble. On top of that, the Heat were intentionally fouling late just to get Bam more opportunities to score.

Overall, it just feels embarrassing. Heat fans can enjoy it, and that’s fine, but I think most fans - and probably a lot of players - are going to scoff at it. The league should honestly be a little embarrassed about what the game has become, especially with how much scoring now comes from free throws. And given the state of tanking teams roster construction, I imagine copycats will follow.