Kobe Took 29 FGA with Zero Assists in a Postseason Game, How Crazy Is That?
29 field goal attempts and no assists. Does that sound strange to you? Does that bother your ears? Or are you OK with it? Shrug your shoulders and dismiss it because after all, it's Kobe Bryant. Maybe you attempt to justify it by saying his teammates didn't step up or that they didn't hit their shots.
Well I was curious and wanted to know just how common it is (or was) for one player to take at least 29 field goal attempts without handing out at least ONE assist in a postseason game. I've limited it to the postseason because I want to compare oranges to oranges. I wanted this article to cover the entire history of the NBA postseason. Unfortunately Basketball Reference.com only goes back to 1991 for the postseason.
So in the last 20 years, how many guys have "accomplished" this feat?
The answer: Two. Kobe Bryant & Karl Malone (who did it twice). Here's their box scores:
Box score highlights: (to see full box score follow this link: http://bkref.com/tiny/s9Xjt ).
Player: Karl Malone Karl Malone Kobe Bryant
Dates: 4/22/2000 5/26/1992 05/02/2011
Mins played: 43 51 (OT) 35
points: 50 38 36
fg-fga: 18-32 16-30 14-29
fg pct: .563 .533 .483
assist: 0 0 0
rebounds: 12 14 5
outcome: win loss loss
I'm a longtime Lakers fan, since 1965. In my opinion, Kobe was looking for his shot too much. Yeah, he passed it inside a few times, but obviously not at the best times. Kobe needs to average between five and seven assists per game for the Lakers to be operating on all burners.
It's not too late to correct the issue. Phil, make it so.
