Kobe Bryant vs. Lebron James: Game Winning Shots
BY THE NBA REALIST ⋅ JANUARY 19, 2012 ⋅ POST A COMMENT
Originally published on 5/3/2011 and updated periodically.
The game winning/game tying shot is arguably the most clutch shot in basketball. While any other shot attempt during a game offers a player an opportunity for redemption in the case of failure, the game winning/game tying is the most unforgiving, since unless a player’s team is tied, there are no second chances. Either the player makes the shot and succeeds, or he misses and fails. Its one shot for all the marbles, and the outcome can mean the difference between a win or a loss. And in the playoffs, it becomes even more consequential.
So who would you rather have taking the last shot at the end of a playoff game? Kobe Bryant vs. Lebron James?
Earlier in the season, I wrote an article challenging the popular assumption around the NBA that Kobe Bryant should be the unanimous choice to take the final shot in a playoff game. In my article, I cited the NBA’s standard Game Winning/Game Tying Shot Metric used by coaches and GMs throughout the league when scouting opposing teams - shot attempts made with the intent to either win or tie the game within the final 24 seconds, during which a player’s team is either tied or trails by three or fewer points – or in other words, a one-possession game (the concession 2-point basket in which a player’s team is down by 3 points is excluded from this metric). In my analysis, we provided a detailed list of each and every game winning and game tying shot attempt during Kobe Bryant’s playoff career, as validated by game film, play-by-play logs, box scores and recaps.
The end result: During his 15 year career, Kobe Bryant is 7/25 or 28%:
http://chasing23.com/kobe-bryant-vs-leb ... ing-shots/
