How Kobe Bean Bryant’s Jump Shot Works
Although not classified as a shooter, Kobe Jellybean Bryant is one of the toughest shot makers in the game. Having made over 10,000 jumpers in his NBA career, many of them contested by some of the most elite defenders such as Ruben Patterson, Ron Artest, Scottie Pippen, Tony Allen, Shane Battier and his favorite nemesis Bruce Bowen, Kobe has mastered the jump shot in a different way than jump shooters like Ray Allen.
With his scoring and killer mentality, Kobe like Jordan and Durant, puts the ball through the bucket more through will than a naturally inherited skill. Like when he shot the turnaround 3 against the Blazers baseline side out of bounds on a night where he dropped 65.
Or like earlier in his career against the Blazers, he hit 2 difficult high-arcing 3s, one to force the game into overtime and the other to win it. Not to mention all the crazy left handed shots he’s hit, the countless turnaround jumpers, the fadeaway jumpers in the post and the career-long consistent free throw shooting of over 83%.
While Kobe’s shot looks like a mimic of Jordan’s jump shot form, it should be noted that that’s not why he consistently gets buckets, but because he’s mastered the form that’s apt for him and for the physics of basketball.
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Basketball Shooting Drills: The Kobe Bryant Method
There are a thousand different basketball shooting drills out there, but here’s are a set of practice drills you can try, in memory, honor and tribute, to our favorite shot taker and maker Kobe Bryant. He might not have been a pure shooter like Ray Allen, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and other NBA shooters of his generation, but we can all agree that he was the most creative scorer since Michael Jordan.
His genius ability to get buckets from any shooting spot in the half court, against any defender or defense, with either hand, in any high-pressure game situation, was all a culmination of the work he put in, starting workouts every morning at 4 am.
Most of us can’t replicate his practice schedule, but we can make a commitment with ourselves to become a better player through hard work. So let’s get some work in. Here is how you can honor the Black Mamba, and learn to shoot the basketball better in the process.