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Should the Lakers still let Kobe Bryant take game-winning shots?

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Kobe Bryant had a miserable shooting night against the Thunder Friday night at home, but with the game on the line, head coach Byron Scott still called Bryant’s number. Bryant, who started the game 3-for-14, got a decent look against Andre Roberson, but his shot came up short and the Lakers fell to 8-18.

After the game, Lakers guard Jeremy Lin was asked what he thought of Bryant’s final shot — and Lin wished he could have a chance to shoot a game-winner.

“That’s just a matter of time before he starts getting his, hitting those game-winners. I mean, I like game-winners too. I would love to shoot some… I get it, that guy’s kind of the king of game-winners.”

Lin appeared to be half-joking when he made those comments, but he has a point. It might be time to let the Lakers’ more reliable shooters take the final shot.

Bryant obviously has a long history of hitting game-winners, and he’s regarded as one of the most clutch players in the league. In the annual NBA GM survey, 7.7% of GMs said they would want Kobe Bryant to take the last shot over any player in the league (down from 32.1% in 2013). There’s just one problem: Bryant isn’t the same player anymore.

At 36 years old, Kobe’s still in the hunt for the scoring title, but his efficiency is plummeting. Bryant is shooting just 37.7% from the floor (the worst percentage of his career). Although Bryant’s never been a great 3-point shooter, he’s taking more than five threes per game and shooting just 26.8% (the worst among the top-20 most frequent 3-point shooters in the league).

Bryant’s biggest problem seems to be fatigue. He leads the Lakers with 35.4 minutes per game, and has admitted many times this season that he often loses his legs at the end of games, which affects his consistency. In the first three quarters of all games this season, Bryant is shooting 39.1%, but that number drops to 32.8% in the fourth quarter. The Lakers know Bryant is more unreliable late in games, but Scott keeps giving him the ball when it counts anyway.

When asked why Bryant got to take the game-winner Friday, head coach Scott’s answer was simple: “32,000 plus points.” That kind of reasoning will probably get the Lakers a great lottery pick this summer.

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