When things were well and good and the Los Angeles Lakers were winning championships, Kobe Bryant could do no wrong as per fans. But when things didn’t meet the fans’ expectations, Bryant’s game was quickly put under the microscope and criticized. Back in 2015, Kobe Bryant sat down with GQ Sports to answer a few questions about his life, both on and off the basketball court. During the interview, Bryant was asked about his views of shooting the ball too much as compared to his teammates. Kobe answered in his own way, comparing himself to the 18th Century Austrian composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Advertisement
As the interview went on, Bryant revealed that he had been taking too many shots since he was eight years old. So, for him to shoot the same amount of shots was nothing new, given he had been doing so for the majority of his life.
Based on the people’s perspective of Bryant taking too many shots per game, The Black Mamba drew a very savvy comparison to Mozart stating people’s take on the Austrian composer to have too many notes and compositions under his name.
To solidify his argument even further, Kobe quoted Mozart and what he said to the public about having too many compositions. During the interview, Bryant even mentioned that he could entertain the public by taking that many shots per game.
“Some people thought Mozart had too many notes in his compositions. Let me put it this way: I entertain people who say I shoot too much. I find it very interesting. Going back to Mozart, he responded to critics by saying there were neither too many notes or too few. There were as many as necessary.”
Many fans and analysts poked at Kobe Bryant’s shot selection but harped more on the amount of shots he took per game. This even brought up the fact that Bryant did not pass the ball to his teammates often.
But given how the Los Angeles Lakers team and roster was back then, Bryant backed his shot selection and amount of shots taken over the fact that his teammates did not practice as much or as hard as him, leading Kobe to take the offensive load upon himself during many games at times.
Kobe Bryant’s high-volume shot attempts
A majority of NBA fans remember Kobe Bryant taking numerous shots per game. This even led to a trend or meme of sorts on social media of Bryant taking extremely contested jumpers over two to three defenders.
But when you look back at the number of shots attempted per game, Bryant is not even in the top five. As per StatMuse, Bryant is way behind in terms of shots attempted per game throughout his career. Players like Allen Iverson, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James are still ahead of him in that category.
Kobe Byrant’s 2005-2006 season was when he took the most shots per game. But when running down numbers, Bryant still does not even come as one of the top names for shots attempted during a single season. Pete Maravich, Elgin Baylor, Rick Barry, MJ, and LBJ are still ahead of him in that category to name a few.
To put things in perspective, the most shots Kobe Byrant ever took in a matchup was his final game against the Utah Jazz. Bryant attempted 50 shots, sinking 22 of them. And still, he is at the 15th spot for most shots attempted during a single game.
Now whether people want to believe that Bryant took too many unnecessary shots or not is based on their perspective. But those who saw The Black Mamba growing up know how crucial those contested shots were to win the game. As well as all the things Bryant did to will his team to victory.
