It's weird how Kobe is thought of this super clutch performer, but his Finals...

[1987_Lakers]

Efficiency numbers are pretty underwhelming.

2000 - 15.6 ppg | 39 fg% (Don't really fault Kobe here, he got injured and not in his offensive prime)
2001 - 24 ppg | 41.5 fg% | 50 TS%
2002 - 27 ppg | 51 fg% | 62 TS% (very efficient)
2004 - 23 ppg | 38 fg% | 46 TS%
2008 - 26 ppg | 40.1 fg% | 50.5 TS%
2009 - 32 ppg | 43 fg% | 52.5 TS%
2010 - 29 ppg | 40.1 fg% | 52.8 TS%

For comparison sake, regular season Kobe from 2001-2010 shot 45.6 fg% and 56 TS%. Kobe's efficiency took a big dip in every Finals he played in excluding 2002.

As a laker fan who pretty much watched every laker game, his most memorable moments to me were always in the WCF, that's when he performed the best, but damn he was so underwhelming in the Finals, game 7 vs Boston in 2010 was a horrific performance, to be honest we should have lost that game, to this day I don't know how we pulled that off with Kobe playing so bad.

[Kblaze8855]

So low total shooting in games you mostly won without any additional data on when the shots were taken is what you’re determining clutch ability by?

[MadDog]

You could say Kobe didn't play at his "normal standard" in the finals. Or that he wasn't the best finals performer.

But not seeing the correlation between series play and clutch ability.

[tontoz]

Kobe's problem in the clutch was the same as his problem the rest of the game. He had bad shot selection. He took way too many long, contested jumpers for someone who wasn't an elite shooter.

There are guys now who can take the same bad shots and actually make them at a good rate. Kobe couldn't.

In the clutch it was magnified because he was even more determined to take the shot to be the hero. His chucking made him hard to watch for me at times.

[1987_Lakers]

So low total shooting in games you mostly won without any additional data on when the shots were taken is what you’re determining clutch ability by?

Being a big game performer in the biggest stage to me is considered clutch. It's just odd to me how Kobe is looked as this player with a killer instinct, black mamba mentality, but it's obvious his inflated ego usually got him in trouble in those big games.

[AirBonner]

Kobe's problem in the clutch was the same as his problem the rest of the game. He had bad shot selection. He took way too many long, contested jumpers for someone who wasn't an elite shooter.

There are guys now who can take the same bad shots and actually make them at a good rate. Kobe couldn't.

In the clutch it was magnified because he was even more determined to take the shot to be the hero. His chucking made him hard to watch for me at times.

Agree. He wanted to play like Durant and just shoot over people but he wasn’t that tall

[kenneth_griffin]

kobes percentages are low because he takes more impossible clutch shots than anyone. when its a good look he knocks it down. but he took all of the lakers desperation shots while guys like lebron pass those up

especially when his teams are down 1 instead of tied so theres no pressure to fail


i remember making a game winning shots list a long time ago and kobe has like 35 or something. even jordan only has like 28


so hes always been that guy. hes never shy'd away and thats why his percentage is lower than a guy that plays it safe

[AirBonner]

kobes percentages are low because he takes more impossible clutch shots than anyone. when its a good look he knocks it down. but he took all of the lakers desperation shots while guys like lebron pass those up

especially when his teams are down 1 instead of tied so theres no pressure to fail

The Kobe assist!

[kenneth_griffin]

put anyone else in kobes shoes and ask them to shoot 35 foot leaning out of bounds over 3 guys desperation shots and see if they can even keep their percentage above 20% let alone 35/40% or whatever kobe is in those situations

[1987_Lakers]

kobes percentages are low because he takes more impossible clutch shots than anyone. when its a good look he knocks it down. but he took all of the lakers desperation shots while guys like lebron pass those up

especially when his teams are down 1 instead of tied so theres no pressure to fail


i remember making a game winning shots list a long time ago and kobe has like 35 or something. even jordan only has like 28


so hes always been that guy. hes never shy'd away and thats why his percentage is lower than a guy that plays it safe

I'm sorry, but 2004 and game 7 of 2010 were inexcusable, he went into chucking mode in 2004 despite the fact that Shaq was being guarded one on one all series and dominating, he simply didn't get enough touches.

[3ball]

Individual efficiency is an overrated driver of winning

When Kobe takes a lot of shots, it controls the game and prevents the opponent from controlling the flow.

The defense gets worn down defending him and battling for rebounds of his misses, which takes away from their offense.

Kobe's volume and attack won the attrition battle, so opponents were worn down and weren't fresher on offense than the Lakers

[SouBeachTalents]

His elimination game performances were even worse. For having the rep of being Jordan like in the clutch Kobe was often mediocre to bad in the Finals and when facing elimination, and his teammates were the ones always hitting the big shots

[1987_Lakers]

Individual efficiency is an overrated driver of winning

When Kobe takes a lot of shots, the defense gets worn down defending him and battling for rebounds of his misses, which takes away from their offense.

Kobe's volume and attack won the attrition battle, so opponents were worn down and weren't fresher on offense than the Lakers

If anything it makes your offense more predictable and you end the possession with 0 points, so what you are saying makes zero sense whatsoever. You are basically rewarding a player for missing shots.

[3ball]

His elimination game performances were even worse. For having the rep of being Jordan like in the clutch Kobe was often mediocre to bad in the Finals and when facing elimination, and his teammates were the ones always hitting the big shots

Why not just post Kobe's clutch stats rather than post an inaccurate opinion based on your faulty memory lol?

I'll do it...

Last 5 within 5 - these stats are available

[ImKobe]

He was injured in 2000 and 2004, not sure why you're listing those averages .

2001 - 25/8/6 50.1%TS, league average 51.8%TS
2002 - 27/6/5 62.3%TS, league average 52.0%TS
2008 - 26/5/5 50.5%TS, league average 54.0%TS
2009 - 32/7/6 52.5%TS, league average 54.4%TS
2010 - 29/8/4 52.8%TS, league average 54.3%TS

2008 is the only real "bad" Finals where a healthy Kobe shot more than 2% below league average efficiency while playing elite D and running the offense against one of the best defenses of that decade, who held Lebron to 48%TS with 5.2 TOs that same Playoff run. I wouldn't put much stock into the 00-02 runs anyways, the real Finals were played in the West Semis/Finals with Lakers, Spurs & Kings being the true title contenders while the East had none.