Robert Horry
That's who I was going to say. Kobe wasn't clutch... he missed greater percentage of game winners than most. Bird was clutch but he got to take all the final shots because he was Bird. Horry was a role player who time and time again hit daggers.
that's because Kobe was such a fierce competitor that he took shots that other players would have not taken just to protect their shooting percentage.
I agree.
Being a clutch scorer isn't only about the percentage of shots you make, it's about your willingness to take the big shot - knowing full well that if you miss it and your team loses the game, it's all on you.
It takes an extreme amount of guts and an extreme amount of confidence to be that guy who could shoot 3-15 over the course of a game, and yet still have no hesitation taking the game winning shot at the end. To know that people are going to blame you, to know that people are going to call you a ball hog - and to not care one bit.
When determining which players were most clutch we shouldn't only look at their percentages in the clutch, but also how many attempts they took.
Another underrated thing is defense. Kevin Garnett was an incredibly clutch player who rarely gets credit for it. He was never a ball hog, he wasn't a guy who BEGGED for the ball in the clutch. But when he got it, he rarely missed. But more importantly, how many Celtics games were saved by KG's clutch defense? Bit steals, but bocks, big hussle plays diving for the ball, clutch rebounds that saved games. He was a monster for us.
When KG was wearing Celtcs green and caught the ball - either at 15 feet or at the basket - with the game on the line, I always had a huge amount of confidence that we were going to win the game.
