What struck me, reading about his career now, was not how often Bryant succeeded, but how often he failed. He missed more shots than any other player in history, 14,481 altogether, more than 1,000 up on the man in second place, the Boston Celtics’ John Havlicek. There is a famous story about a Lakers game against the Utah Jazz in May 1997, Game 5 of the second round of the playoffs. With 40 seconds left, he tried another from the top of the arc, but it fell short. Then, with four seconds left — and the Jazz leading by three — he did it again, from the left: four air balls in five minutes.

Source: Taipei Times January 29, 2020 15:56 UTC