Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant's last five games where he has averaged 53.6 points per game while attempting 34.6 field goals per game has some in the media opining that the Lakers have the best chance of success, also known as winning, if Bryant continues to play in this type of selfish manner. For them, the fact Bryant has been accountable for 41.9% of the Lakers' field goal attempts over the most recent five contests provides further evidence not for why he is a human black hole on the basketball court, but for why he deserves more than simply passing consideration for league MVP. If only it were that simple that the more shots Bryant takes, the better the Lakers do.

Finding out how many shots Bryant took during the course of the game will provide no clues toward discovering whether or not the Lakers were victorious. In actuality, Bryant has averaged 22.5 field goal attempts per game in wins and 21.2 field goal attempts per game in losses, a minor difference. The prudent and revealing question to ask is not how many times did Bryant launch the ball towards the rim, but what percentage of those shots actually went through the hoop. Therein lies the significant differences.

When the Lakers won with Bryant on the floor, Bryant had a 61.7 TS%, scored 1.23 points per shot attempt, and even found time to have a 9.1 rebound rate. His efficient shooting in turn helped him average 33.4 points per game. Conversely, in the Lakers' losses, he has only had a 55.5 TS%, 1.11 points per shot attempt, 28.1 points per game, and only a 7.7 rebound rate. Quantity matters not when it comes to using Bryant's stat line to predict the outcome of a Lakers game. Only quality does.