Kobe Bryant dominated the midrange and hit unassisted jumpers at a historic rate | Signature Shots

Kobe Bryant is obviously a Hall of Famer, he is a five-time champion number eight and number 24. One of the top five scorers in NBA history and his

signature

shots

are his magnificent

unassisted

jumpers

that raised a circle behind the line for Kobe Bryant to dribble with his right foot. to the baseline, a guarded 15 foot shot is good, omg, in the simplest terms,

kobe

was unstoppable. Bryant came from the Michael Jordan school of scoring and showed that the mamba could do it all. I have literally learned a lot from him. I'm just trying. to make him proud and to make jerry and the oscar official proud and the guys came before me because I learned a lot from them, but when he first came into the league he relied a lot more on rim attacks than

jumpers

, why was that jumper just went?

He is unreliable for the teenage phenom, averaging about 15 minutes per game, mostly off the bench. He attempted just 146 mid-range jumpers in his rookie season that same year Jordan shot. Get these 1,202 mid-range

shots

compared to his hero, young Bryant's bag. He is very deep, especially in the

midrange

, but that is where the mamba mentality comes into play. Bryant was never content with being a really good young player, he wanted to be the best, he needed to be the best and then be the best scorer. The world needed to excel in the

midrange

, so he got to work and by the time he was in his early 20s, Kobe had already developed one of the most devastating midrange portfolios in the game, no one in league history except Michael Jordan.

They could create and knock down their own jumpers, as well as Kobe, and it makes sense that he was so comfortable with the ball in his hands, since he had the handles and footwork to go get a bucket any time he wanted. would like, which was useful at all times. his career as Bryant took advantage of his unbeatable midrange game to create and time game winners with regularity, he drops back, he drops back, he fades, he got it at the buzzer, there is no shortage of highlights to capture his ability to take down a big defender , finding his mark and hitting a big shot in a big moment that was built on his tireless work ethic that drove him to develop an infinite variety of moves and it didn't hurt that he was never afraid to miss.

I have no fear if he takes the last second shot and misses, so Kobe probably peaked as a pure scorer at 0.506 when he averaged a ridiculous 35.4 points per game. The only player to eclipse that mark since then is James Harden with 36.1 in 2018-19 and that was largely due to the fact that most of Hardin's field goals were worth an extra point compared to Kobe, who took fewer shots. Of half as many triples as he had that year, the mamba averaged 12.2 baskets per game, most of those baskets came from mid-distance and most of those were

unassisted

, yes, he got to the rim a lot with an average of 3 .4 baskets per game in the restricted area that year and yes, he made three-pointers with an average of 2.3 three-pointers per game that year, but the midrange was the dominant color in the Mamba's masterpiece that season he averaged more than 10 points per game only on mid-range shots

kobe

's masterpiece occurred about halfway through that campaign on january 22, 2006

bryant

scored 81 points against the raptors history tonight at staples center was a wonderful performance that is not only the second-highest scoring game of all time was also fueled by those solo shots that

historic

night. 18 of Bryant's 28 shots were unassisted.

Oh, and in the playoffs that year, Bryant had one of the most iconic performances of his in a first-round game against Steve Nash and the Suns, not only. Bryant tied the game with this incredibly dramatic play at the end of regulation, but at the end of overtime with the Lakers trailing, he did this? His reaction is a lasting image. This is one of the most famous buzzer-beaters in history, and of course he did. a cold-blooded, unassisted jump shot from the bottom line of the right elbow, I couldn't have averaged 35 per game that year or made that 81-point classic or hit that game-winner without being the best mid-range scorer in the game. world that year, he scored 414.

Of his 976 mid-range attempts crushed the productivity of everyone else in the NBA, including guys like Dirk Nowitzki and Allen Iverson, who ranked a distant second and third respectively, and Kobe scored year after year without the benefit of assists that could dribble to shoot. In matchups like this he could create space with bombs like this, his fades were absolutely Jordanian, beautiful, efficient and defenseless, his spin moves were legendary, he could hit floaters, slants or anything else he needed to hit in almost any situation, especially with the game at stake. and you knew you were always in trouble when he started chewing on his jersey ask matt barnes as he chews on his jersey buries a 22 footer if there's one thing that sepa

rate

s nba superstars from the normal type of players it's the ability to create and make your own shots at high speeds at their best.

Bryant was the best in the world at doing just that. His ability to score from anywhere sets him apart. He hit contested jumpers in so many different ways that it's mind-blowing to stay outside the arc while dribbling. patterson keeps his feet kobe strength he did it, he shot it and although players like steph curry can go down in history as better shooters than

bryant

, that's a little misleading of course curry's numbers are crazy and his three pointers are the best that we have had. ever seen, but Bryant took and made some of the toughest shots against physical defenses in a way that today's best shooters don't even make near the end of his incredible career.

Bryant still relied on these tough two-point jumpers of his own creation. check out these examples from his last season in 2016 with lebron james guarding him again whether he dribbles off a pull-up or starts with his back to the basket the black bombshell had all the tricks in the bag again his footwork his creativity his balance and Of course, his shooting skills made his game as beautiful to watch as it was effective as Jordan. Toby was able to align aesthetic beauty with pure dominance on the court, helping him become one of the most popular superstars of all time as the game becomes more enamored. three, one of the saddest things is that moves like this are disappearing from the NBA, they're not gone yet, you can still see Chris Paul doing elbow shots, Kawhi Leonard doing changeups or Devin Booker Rich doing a really good one invitation to Kobe, but it's no secret that the three-point revolution is costing us exactly the kind of highlights we associate with legends like Jordan Novitskiy and, of course, Kobe from 1996 to 2016, all 20 seasons of Kobe's career. bryant in which no one converted unassisted midfielders like kobe and it's not close if there was any doubt about who has been the most dominant mid-range scorer.

This entry, this table should be deleted. It's the mamba, the post game is quickly fading and mid-range shots are more frowned upon than ever, but in a way that makes Bryant's hall of fame a case. Even more dramatic, he will be remembered for so many different things and so many legendary moments. He was a Finals MVP, a scoring champion, a star, a girl daddy, a creative force and a global icon. All of that is so true and so important. but on the court, in the context of the current era, kobe was possibly the last true master of middle distance, the last one who really depended on these types of unassisted middle distance jumpers to win games, score titles and, of course , larry o'brien trophies.

Beautiful jumpers got the mamba to take you to Springfield.