Pivot Points: Kobe Bryant's 81 Points Proves Midrange Game Is Alive and Well

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On the pages of this very website you will find a writer who has held a funeral service for the loss of the midrange jump-shot. His eulogy is compelling, and he calls on many players for words of condolence.

The only thing is, he's wrong—dead wrong.

So before we close the casket and kick the dirt in, I think that a few things need to be discussed. Maybe afterwards we can "revive" the jump-shot like Lazarus in the Bible.

In one night, Kobe Bryant changed the perception of basketball from an offensive point of view. His 81-point performance was historic, dazzling, and beyond the realm of comprehension.

What made this memorable, besides the fact that it's the second-highest point output in the history of the NBA, is the variety in which Bryant got his points.

He scored from all angles, all over the floor. He scored from deep, at the rim, at the free throw line, and especially in the 15 to 18 foot range.

It's true that Bryant was extra hot this night, but his mastery of the midrange game cannot be denied. ESPN replayed every one of his 81 points, so it was there in living color for all to see.

Wilt Chamberlain, in his 100-point masterpiece, earned most of those scores at the rim and on the charity stripe. It was a dominant performance from the most dominant big man in basketball history.

I hold Bryant's 81 in higher esteem, though, because he got his from all over the court, and the majority of those points were on jump-shots. He didn't possess the physical stature of Wilt, yet he was just as dominant.

Bryant, for all his greatness that night, is just an example. His game is more complete than midrange jumpers, but if he concentrated solely on that aspect of the game, there is no doubt that he would be the best.

Richard Hamilton is a player who defines the midrange game to its barest degree. He is known for coming off screens and being deadly accurate from 15 feet in.

Hamilton realized that he had a talent for the midrange game, and he honed those skills, making him almost impossible to guard in the paint.

Hamilton may be the best example of the health of the midrange game, but he's by far not the only one. Contrary to some opinion, some of the best players out there have mastered it.

The main dilemma lies in the fact that people have short attention spans. We rarely pay attention to the artistry of the game, getting lost in the top 10 dunks of the night.

The sad truth of the matter is that a lot of those players that you see on the highlights are forever stuck there, because they can't elevate their games to a complete level.

For most fans, that's fine, because we would rather see the latest YouTube moments than dissect the aspects of a complete game. The evidence is there and you don't have to look hard to find it.

Pay attention to the best players in the game. They are the ones who realize that it take all facets of the game to be the best.

Bryant idolized Michael Jordan as a player, duplicating his style, from his game to his swagger. One of the best parts of Jordan's game was his midrange proficiency.

That shows up in Bryant's game, from the technical aspects of his jumper (perfect form) to the rate at which he uses it. He perfected that and is universally recognized for it.

Bryant gets to the rim a lot, but it's more because defenders are scared of his jumper than the false assumption that his game is limited to a dribble-drive.

Honestly, I could go on and on. Dwayne Wade's emergence as a MVP candidate was due mainly to the fact that he started to pull up on those drives to the rim and pop those 10 to 12-footers.

This helped complete Wade's game as a player, and save his body from some of the nasty spills he was taking. Is it coincidence that he credited the time he spent with Bryant this past summer for helping him to become a better player?

Another player that spent that summer with Bryant was Lebron James. James is known for his brutish force while driving to the hoop, but this past season you could see that James was working on his midrange game.

He still has some way to go, but you could tell he was making a discernible effort.

The fact that Wade and James are paying attention to that part of their game should ring bells for the more fundamentally challenged. They are two of the better players in the NBA, and they have chosen to enhance their games.

There are others like Brandon Roy, Steve Nash, O.J. Mayo, and Carmelo Anthony that understand the advantage of having a midrange game. The time they spend working on those shots shows up in their performances.

ESPN loves to show us those one-minute highlights and monster dunks until our attention-deprived brains can stand no more, but what they showed us on that night in Los Angeles is something much more substantial.

They gave us a 81-point performance that was special, because it brought life to an art form that was considered dead and buried. Against Toronto, Bryant showed us that the midrange jump-shot is alive and well.

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