Draymond defends Adebayo's 83 points: Who says you should bench starters with a big lead? Hypocritical sportsmanship.

On March 14 Beijing time, Warriors player Draymond discussed Adebayo's 83 points on his latest podcast and shared his views on recent fan criticisms. Details are as follows—

Recently everyone is obsessing over Adebayo's 83 points. People are debating whether Coach Spo should have called timeouts, intentionally fouled, or let him play so long, and questioning the legitimacy of the 83 points.

The Wizards wanted to tank, yet you expect Spo to feel guilty for this tanking team and bench Adebayo, stopping him from chasing the record?

Why? I hate these unwritten bullshit rules in basketball. You can't attack or score when leading? Screw that. This is a basketball game, the clock still running is the reason.

You can attack freely when trailing, but not when leading? What kind of logic is that? Feel guilty because you're winning? No, I work hard to win, I won't feel guilty, and I won't stop. If the clock is still ticking, I can shoot.

Just because you have a big lead you should bench your starters? Who said that? The time is still running.

Adebayo scored 83 points. First, salute to my brother.Twenty or thirty years later, the record book will only say: Chamberlain 100 points, Adebayo 83 points. It won't say "the opponent was a tanking Wizards", it will only say: March 10, 2026 (local time), Adebayo scored 83 points. That's all.

So those sour critics, saying Spo shouldn't, Adebayo shouldn't, the opponent shouldn't foul, save it.

First, he had 43 points in the first half. Even if the opponent wasn't tanking, he was heading toward 86 points anyway. He only got 83, actually slower than his first-half pace.

Besides, if the Wizards weren't tanking, he might not even have the chance to score 83; but even if he did, no one would criticize because the opponent wouldn't lose by 30. That's not his fault, it's the Wizards' lineup problem.

I think people are criticizing way too much. I saw the Wizards coach also sounded sour, saying "you could have stopped."

There are many stat-padders in the NBA, but no one can pad their way to 83 points. Regardless of the opponent, scoring 83 points in the NBA is insane.

I've seen a center staying on the court to pad stats for a double-double when his team was down 25, 30 points, many years ago, against our Warriors.

Everyone pads stats every day, yet when Adebayo scores 83, you call him a stat-padder?

He scored 31 points in the first quarter. Scoring 83 points in the NBA is nearly impossible; besides Adebayo, only Chamberlain has done it in history.

So stop saying this shouldn't happen, that's wrong. I truly respect Coach Spo; many coaches start preaching so-called sportsmanship once they lead, screw that.

Salute to Spo, he called timeouts, intentionally fouled, just to help his player break the record. I respect that. Because the Wizards tanking isn't caused by Adebayo and Spo, they shouldn't pay for it. Don't talk to me about hypocritical sportsmanship.

Salute to Adebayo, 83 points, silencing all haters. It should be him, and he did it. Salute to Adebayo, 83 points.

I also saw someone listing this as one of the NBA's most bizarre performances ever. Adebayo 83 points, second highest in history, his previous career high was 41 points. Also Flynn scoring 50 as a substitute, Brewer 51 points, MCW's debut game, etc.

The problem is, these guys aren't on Adebayo's level. Don't act like Adebayo is some unknown suddenly exploding. Reminder: Adebayo averages over 20 points this season, three-time All-Star, two Olympic gold medals, All-Defensive First Team, multiple All-Defensive selections.

I respect Brewer, but Adebayo is an All-Star, Olympic champion. The Heat just decided to build around Adebayo, trading Butler, yet you treat him like some random guy exploding? What a joke.

Anyway, I can't believe there's so much fuss over Adebayo's 83 points, like he cheated. Get out of here. Salute to my brother, congratulations Adebayo, so awesome. Salute to Coach Spo, so awesome.