Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady are backing Bam Adebayo following his historic 83-point performance, pushing back against criticism on their Cousins podcast.
The Hall of Famers made it clear they believe Bam’s teammates were right to keep feeding him the ball late in the game as he chased history.
“I remember you saying ‘Oh, man. At 50 something… man, he just need to play three quarters and sit down.’ I’m over there like: ‘Nah, man, you need to see if you can get it.’ All of a sudden, it’s just like the light came on with him… Give him the ball… We turned into real fans,” Carter said.
He also compared the moment to other iconic scoring nights.
“Did you see maybe Devin Booker 71 or Luka’s 73… Now 80. I was a fan, man. It was just fun to watch and I know a lot of people had some things to say about it.”
McGrady echoed that sentiment, emphasizing the league’s culture.
“The thing is, teammates have just been giving [BAM] the ball and let the player go and have a historic night… That is what we do in this league.”
Their comments add to the ongoing debate surrounding Bam’s performance and how teams approach record-breaking moments. You can see the full episode below.