Lakers’ Kobe Bryant nearing NBA record for most misses

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant shoots as Charlotte Hornets center Cody Zeller defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2014, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant shoots as Charlotte Hornets center Cody Zeller defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2014, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

By Mark Medina and J.P. Hoornstra

A trend has emerged that highlights both Kobe Bryant’s longevity, prolific play and one area of weakness.

When the Lakers (1-5) visit the Memphis Grizzlies (5-1) Tuesday night at FedEx Forum, Bryant will only need to miss 13 more shots to set the NBA’s all-time record in total misses. John Havlicek currently owns that mark with 13,417 missed shots in 1,270 games. Through 19 NBA seasons Bryant has made plenty of shots and missed a lot of them too, (13,405 in 1,251 games to be exact). The blessing involving Bryant: his five NBA championships and fourth-place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list show his high-volume shooting approach has mostly worked. The curse involving Bryant: his non-stop shooting has created offensive imbalance either through his own impatience or because teammates have deferred to him.

Not that is surprising to Lakers coach Byron Scott, who was a mentor to Bryant during his rookie season he hoisted three consecutive airballs in the Lakers’ playoff loss to Utah.

“We knew about him at that time … that it was going to make him stronger,” Scott said. “It did. He’s come back with a vengeance.”

Yet, these current Lakers have tried to strike the balance between relying on Bryant’s heroics and ensuring the burden does not rest on his scoring. After playing in only six games last season with injuries to his left Achilles tendon and left knee, Bryant has averaged 26.5 points, which ranks second best in the NBA behind Golden State’s Steph Curry (27.7 points per game). But Bryant has also shot a career-low 39.5 percent from the field.

“He still believes he can be the best player in the league every time he steps on the court,” Lakers forward Carlos Boozer said. “He believes he’s the best player on the court. A lot of nights he shows that. You’ve got to give him a lot of credit because it’s hard to do. Kobe makes shots that most guys couldn’t even think about doing. That’s why fans come every night. You might see him do something that night that you’ll never see again in your life. He’s worth the admission price.”

Case in point, Bryant performed some acrobatic plays through six games of play. Bryant performed a nifty up-and-under reverse layup against Golden State. Bryant threw down a reverse one-handed dunk against the Clippers. Through all six games, Bryant made countless fadeaway jumpers both through single and double coverage.

But the Lakers did not win a game until the offense relied on other contributors. Their win on Sunday against Charlotte featured four other double digit scorers in Jeremy Lin (21 points), Boozer (16 points), Jordan Hill (12 points) and Ed Davis (10 points).

That has happened partly because the Lakers have talked openly about how they cannot just defer to Bryant, something that both Scott and Bryant himself have emphasized too.

“When you’ve got a bunch of new guys and they’re playing with a legend, it takes time,” Scott said. “A lot of those guys, they watched Kobe over the years be one of the best players to ever play this game. Of course when they throw it to him sometimes they have a tendency to stand around and watch because they want to see what he’s going to do. Now after about 6 or 7 weeks they’re starting to realize we have to help him as much as possible.”

That partly entailed Scott pulling Lin aside before the Lakers’ game against Charlotte encouraging him to take open shots and run the offense. Scott and Bryant have constantly preached that message.

“It was helpful just in terms of him coming forward and just saying ‘go, go go,'” Lin said. “It’s always great anytime the coach is telling you to do that.”

Still, that won’t stop Bryant from shooting. The Lakers can only hope most of them go in, while everyone else around Bryant plays well enough to assure those he won’t collect missed shots at a league-setting rate.

“Anytime you get the green light from the coach to play your game and take the shots that are available to you, it gives you a little added confidence to go out there and do that,” Scott said. “Unfortunately it took guys five or six games to get guys to feel that way. It’s a process.”

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com