Lonzo Ball and his brother, LiAngelo, recently appeared in Angel Reese’s podcast, ‘Unapologetically Angel’ where they spoke on subjects relating to life, basketball, and everything in between. During one segment, Lonzo caused shockwaves around the league by claiming that Kobe Bryant is not a top-five player for one particular reason.
“I love Kobe Bryant, but he was never the best player to me when I was watching him,” said Ball. “Just because he’s got the most misses ever, you know what I’m saying? I don’t know. But back to Curry—his resume, the way he changed the game—he’s the best shooter ever. Carried USA. There ain’t nothing that he hasn’t done, and he’s got the rings to back it up too. So, I don’t know.”
As a former Laker, Lonzo Ball has a unique perspective on this conversation. He played alongside one of the greatest players ever in a Lakers uniform, including LeBron James. After getting drafted second overall in 2017, Lonzo played for the franchise for two years where he averaged 10.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game on 38.0% shooting.
Despite his past, however, Lonzo Ball isn’t a huge advocate for Kobe Bryant. While Bryant may be a 5x champion and 18x All-Star, Lonzo holds his inefficiency against him and believes that he’s not on the same level as legends like LeBron James and Michael Jordan.
What Lonzo probably doesn’t know is that LeBron James actually holds the record for most missed shots. With 14,484 missed shots, James just recently surpassed Kobe to hold the record. Bryant is now in second place with a 1,00 point gap between the rest of the field.
1. LeBron James: 14,484 missed shots
2. Kobe Bryant: 14,481 missed shots
3. John Havlicek: 13,417 missed shots
4. Elvin Hayes: 13,296 missed shots
5. Karl Malone: 12,682 missed shots
6. Dirk Nowitzki: 12,565 missed shots
7. Carmelo Anthony: 12,524 missed shots
8. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 12,470 missed shots
9. Michael Jordan: 12,345 missed shots
10. Vince Carter: 12,046 missed shots
LeBron James having the most missed shots makes sense given that he’s been playing at an All-Star level for the past 21 seasons straight. As the longest-tenured superstar in NBA history, LeBron is at the top of most statistical categories just based on how long he’s been dominating the game.
Kobe Bryant also played for a long time (20 years), and while his efficiency was a lot lower than LeBron’s, he still shot a respectable 44.7% from the field while taking some of the toughest shots on possible the court — and he always made them when they counted the most. As a 5x champion and the league’s 4th-highest leading scorer (33,643 career points), there is no question that Kobe is one of the greatest scorers ever and that his name deserved to be in the conversation with legends like Kareem, Michael, and LeBron James.
Of course, unlike other top-scoring players throughout history, Kobe also got it done on both ends of the floor as a 12x All-Defensive star. With relentless tenacity and unwavering determination, Kobe willed the Lakers to success countless times and he continues to be an inspiration today for athletes who want to pursue a championship run.
So, despite missing over 14,000 shots for his career, Kobe Bryant never let his confidence waver, and he never let anybody or anything dissuade him from trying to score whenever he had the chance. That “mamba mentality” is what helped him get the most out of his NBA career and why he is recognized today as one of the most iconic and competitive superstars in NBA history.
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