Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has never been shy about shooting the ball since starting his NBA career nearly two decades ago. He's a gunner, through and through, and it's why he'll go down in history as one of the most prolific scorers the league has ever seen.
Kobe Bryant reveals the only missed shots he regrets
Kobe Bryant has taken thousands upon thousands of shots in his career, but after breaking the NBA’s record for missed attempts, are there any he regrets?
Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports
That proclivity to shoot also explains how Kobe broke the NBA's all-time record for missed shots on Tuesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies, missing his 13,421st shot as a member of the Lakers. A high volume of shots inevitably means a high volume of misses, and for Bryant, he's now the league's record holder in an unfortunate category.
But even for someone like Kobe, who has always embraced being The Man on the hardwood, are there shots he regrets taking? The future Hall of Famer had an interesting answer for the OC Register.
“Yeah, all the ones where I’ve had to bail the team out at the end of the shot clock,” he said. “It annoys the crap out of me. Kills my field goal percentage.”
Play FanDuel, Win Big Money
Bryant, 36, has shot 45 percent from the field in his 19-year career, which is solid but primarily impressive as a result of the number of shots he’s attempted. One of the challenges of being a No. 1 option for an offense, as Kobe points out, is being expected to bail it out in the final seconds of the shot clock. It’s something Bryant does frequently given his role in L.A., and indeed, they’re often some of the worst shots he takes.
So it’s easy to see where Kobe is coming from, even though that’s somewhat the nature of the beast. Bryant always wants to be his team’s primary option, with the offense flowing through his hands most of the time, regardless of his age or teammates. Part of that, at times, is taking the responsibility of shooting when nobody else wants to.
And for pretty much his entire career, Bryant has taken that upon himself happily, launching up shot after shot with little regard for anything but winning. So while there are surely shots that Kobe would take back if possible, it’s hard to imagine him doing things much differently.
See More:
