The 24 Biggest Fails of Kobe Bryant's Career

Image via Complex Original

Date: 3/31/2012

In Kobe’s entire career, hes had two games where he took 20 or more shots and only made three or fewer. Amazingly, they both happened two weeks apart. After an abysmal 3-for-20 showing against Utah, two weeks later against the Hornets Kobe got off to an 0-for-15 start and was sitting on 2-for-20 heading into the game’s last possession. Of course, there’s this minor detail: he drained shot No. 21, a game-winning three. Even when Kobe fails, he still wins.

Date: 6/16/2000

Kobe has hit so many big shots in so many big games that it’s hard to conceive of him playing poorly when a title is on the line. However, with the Lakers up on the Pacers 3-1 in the 2000 NBA Finals, all they needed was a solid game from Kobe and they would be lifting the first Larry O’Brien trophy of the Kobe-Shaq era. Instead, Kobe gave them just eight points on 4-for-20 shooting as the Lakers got stomped by the Pacers. While Kobe didn’t fare much better in the next game either (8-for-27 shooting), it was enough to get the Lakers over the hump.

Date: 3/1/2002

The Lakers had an easy win in hand over the Pacers in a casual March regular season game, leading by 12 in the waning seconds of the game. Kobe decided to fire up a three anyway, and Pacers star Reggie Miller was none too pleased. Never afraid to mix it up, the lanky Miller got in Kobe’s face about the Mamba’s poor sportsmanship. The younger, brasher Bryant immediately grabbed Miller and started throwing punches, leading to a two game suspension.

Date: 1/4/2013

Since January of 2013, Kobe has been a prolific tweeter. And, for the majority of people, these tweets have been amazing. His running commentary of games is great, especially last year when he seemingly took every opportunity to insult his own team’s ineptitude on the court. You know who probably doesn’t like it though? Anyone in the Lakers organization. Kobe openly questioning their decision-making and play is about as antithetical to the team concept as one can be, and it will be interesting to see what he does when healthy and playing.

Date: 3/31/2014

Kobe has always tried to remain neutral on social issues, something former Browns great Jim Brown has said prevented him from becoming a true cultural phenomenon akin to Muhammad Ali. Bryant’s attempted neutrality sounded more like ignorance during last season’s Trayvon Martin case, when Kobe responded to the Miami Heat’s very public support of Martin by saying that “I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to” and that “I won’t assert myself” into the conversation about Martin’s death and the relationship between races in this country. While he’s entitled to his opinion, the near-universal support for Martin made Kobe look very out of touch.

Date: 12/17/2013

OK, so this one isn’t really his fault per se. But still, it was a hugely deflating moment for both Kobe and his fans alike to see the Mamba’s incredible recovery from his torn Achilles’ tendon derailed just six games into his season. It remains to be seen how this season-ending injury will impact him going forward, but knowing Kobe it will hardly stop him from scoring 20 points a night even this late in his NBA career.

Date: 12/16/2001

While it’s easy to forget how great dunker young Kobe was, even he had his moments of failure. And, given that the Lakers blew a lot of teams right out of the Staples Center, Kobe had ample opportunity to experiment with some spectacular in-game dunks. This particular miss is so egregious that even legendary broadcaster Chick Hearn was astounded, uttering a flabbergasted “me no make it” after Kobe sent the ball clanking off the back iron and into the stands.

Date: 6/26/1996

How do these names grab you: Lorenzen Wright, Kerry Kittles, Samaki Walker, Erick Dampier, Todd Fuller, and “The Ukraine Train” Vitaly Potapenko. Those guys were all selected ahead of Kobe in the 1996 NBA Draft, with the Clippers, Nets, Mavericks, Pacers, Warriors, and Cavaliers all deciding against the future Hall of Famer in favor of this group described as at best mediocre. You can add the Hornets to that list too, since they traded Kobe to the Lakers just five days after the draft. What did these teams all see that turned them off from the talented 17-year-old? Tough to say, but given how many teams passed there was some kind of consensus.

Date: 4/12/2013

A tough break for Kobe, and not really one he could control. Despite having played over 1100 regular season games and another 220 playoff games entering the season, Kobe was on the floor over 38 minutes per night at the insistence of coach Mike D’Antoni. While it’s impossible to say if that is what caused him to tear his Achilles’ tendon unless you’re a trained orthopedist, it seems like common sense to say that such a huge workload given the mileage on his body did nothing to help him stay healthy.

Date: 6/17/2008

The Lakers certainly did not have an easy road ahead of them in the 2008 NBA Finals, needing to win Games 6 and 7 on the road in Boston to take the title. If they were going to win, they would need to ride two monster performances from their star player. Kobe did not even come close to delivering. Game 6 was an outright disaster, as Bryant shot 7-for-22 from the field and turned the ball over four times. A massive second quarter run by the Celtics iced the game early, and the Lakers lost by 39.

Date: 6/22/2008

It seemed like the Kobe-Shaq feud was over. Then, Kobe and the Lakers got trounced in Game 6 of the 2008 Finals by the Celtics, and Kobe was left still searching for his first post-Shaq championship ring. Shaq took particular relish in his former teammate’s failure, making the phrase “tell me how my ass tastes” a household expression that summer. Of course, the verse kind of lost its meaning a year later when Kobe finally got his ring, but for a few months Bryant became Shaq’s punchline once again.

Date: 7/14/2004

The relationship between Kobe and Shaq was always going to be complicated. When two of the game’s biggest egos are thrown together on one team, the idea that things will go sour is an inevitability. As Kobe blossomed into a star and began to want more of the ball, the friction between the two likewise grew exponentially. Only two things kept them together: the coddling by coach Phil Jackson, and the fact that they were winning championships. Once the title run ended, so too did the partnership, and Shaq was shipped out of town to Miami in the summer of 2004.

Date: 3/13/2004

Kobe has never had a close relationship with his coaches, butting heads with Phil Jackson even as the pair won five rings together. But according to reports from earlier this spring, Bryant wanted nothing to do with Lakers’ coach Mike D’Antoni and certainly had “no interest” in playing for him. While many players will publicly lobby for their coach when his job is on the line (think Stephen Curry and Mark Jackson earlier this summer), Kobe seemed to veer the opposite way. Did he really need to say that he “didn’t care” when D’Antoni resigned this summer? It seems a bit petty, at best.

Date: Summer 2003

After his legal issues during the summer of 2003, Kobe’s public perception had never been lower. His endorsement deals all fell off as well, with McDonald’s and even delicious chocolate-hazelnut spread Nutella declining to renew their contracts. Nike kept Kobe but refused to use his image for about two years. As you likely know, however, he has since recovered quite nicely.

Date: 4/2/2000

One of the things Kobe failed to realize when he shoved a forearm into Chris Childs’ face is that Childs did not care who Bryant was. He wasn’t going to let some 21-year-old punk him, regardless of how good he was. Kobe gets a fail grade for this one not just because he started the fight in the first place, but also because he pretty clearly took the worst of the punches. Rule of thumb: if you’re going to start a fight, you should at least win.

Date: 10/12/2004

Kobe and Phil Jackson had a very complicated relationship. And to be fair, Phil was trying to sell books. But still, it was not a good look for Kobe when his former coach called him “uncoachable” in Jackson’s 2004 autobiography. Phil also discussed waging “psychological war” with his star and requesting that GM Mitch Kupchak trade him because “He won't listen to anyone.” Of course, the pair won another two titles together, so really it couldn’t have been that bad.

Date: 5/30/2007

It’s certainly understandable that Kobe was frustrated after the 2006-07 season. The Lakers went 42-40 and got crushed by the Suns in the first round of the playoffs. They had balked at giving up Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd at the trade deadline. Their second-best player was Lamar Odom, and he fought injuries all year. Smush Parker started 80 games at point guard. The future was looking bleak, but rather than buckle down and try to carry his team Kobe decided he wanted out, publicly declaring the Lakers’ front office “a mess” and demanding a trade. He’s probably glad they declined to do so, as their February 2008 trade for Pau Gasol vaulted the Lakers into the 2008 Finals and helped them win titles in 2009 and 2010.

Date: 4/30/2007

Kobe was already unhappy during the 2007 offseason when a fan caught him at the wrong moment. Asking Kobe about the Lakers’ reported refusal to part with then-19-year-old Andrew Bynum in a trade for Jason Kidd, Kobe responded about as incredulously as one could. While he was probably right from a basketball point of view, it was not a good look for him to publicly throw a young teammate under the bus. It didn’t help that his reputation was taking a hit after demanding that the Lakers trade him anyway. In the end, though, it all worked out for everyone as the Lakers won titles in 2009 and 2010 with the Bynum-Bryant duo.

Date: 5/12/1997

Kobe was not always the crunch time force that he is today. Indeed, as a rookie in 1996-97 he was little more than an underachiever who took too many shots given how much he was contributing. Kobe shot under 42 percent from the field during the regular season, averaging 7.6 points in just over 15 minutes per game. His performance in Game 5 of the Lakers’ second round series against the Jazz punctuated just how epic a struggle his rookie season was, as Kobe airballed a potential game-winning shot at the end of regulation then followed that up with three more airballs in overtime as the Lakers lost the game and the series.

Date: January 2000

Kobe’s rap career may never have taken off, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. He spent a lot of time in the studio between 1998 and 2000, cutting tracks for a Sony-backed album that never quite dropped. His debut effort (entitled Visions) never made it to market after the first single K.O.B.E. was met with universal mockery, and the video directed by Hype Williams was never allowed to be seen by human eyes. After being dropped by Sony, Kobe even started his own short-lived label called Heads High Entertainment, which shut down after a year.

Date: 5/2/2010

In this digital age, unfortunate photos are a part of life as an athlete. A camera can catch anyone at the wrong moment or in the wrong place, leading to (at best) a merciless ribbing at the hands of friends, family, teammates, and random strangers online. But Kobe’s “White Hot” shoot for the LA Times was actually premeditated, which makes it all the more perplexing. The outfits and makeup are preposterous, and the shoot was skewered in all corners of the Internet.

Date: 6/17/2010

With Celtics center Kendrick Perkins going out with a torn ACL in Game 6, the Lakers had a huge advantage in the paint going into Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals. Pau Gasol played a fantastic game, grabbing 18 rebounds (nine offensive) and scoring 19 points. Kobe…not so much. He went 6-for-24 from the field, nearly shooting his team right out of a championship. Fortunately for Kobe, Ron Artest hit a timely three to help the Lakers ice the game and defeat their rivals.

Date: 4/12/2011

Homophobic slurs have never been cool, but by 2011 they really were not an accepted part of the English language in any situation. So, Kobe’s heat-of-the-moment decision to yell one at a referee after getting a technical? Yeah, not a good idea. Kobe paid dearly for the incident, getting crushed in the court of public opinion and fined $100,000 by the NBA. He also filmed a PSA called “Words Can Hurt,” apologizing in pretty much every single possible way.

Date: 5/6/2006

We’ll probably never know the truth about Game 7 of the 2006 Western Conference Quarterfinals between the Lakers and Suns. Kobe had been carrying a sub-par Lakers team all season, dragging them to 45 wins and the seventh seed. They took highly-favored Phoenix to a seventh game thanks to a 50-point outburst by Kobe in Game 6, but at halftime the Lakers trailed by 15 despite Bryant’s 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting. What we know: Kobe took three shots in the entire second half. He missed all of them. He scored one point. The Lakers lost by 31. He looked disinterested at best. Was it all intentional, or was it simply an off half? We’ll let you be the judge.