How many shots has LeBron James missed so far in his NBA career?
On the face of it, for a player such as LeBron James, considered to be the greatest of all time by many, his overall number of missed shots should not be a cause of discussion. But apart from skill, LeBron James also represents the pinnacle of athleticism in basketball and looks intent on doing the same as far as longevity is concerned.
Among active players, he has played the most number of games and has missed the most number of shots despite boasting of a healthy career shooting efficiency of 54.3%. In this article, we look at the total number of shots that he has missed throughout his NBA career so far.
How many shots has NBA legend LeBron James missed in his career so far?
So far, LeBron James has missed a grand total of 12,701 shots in the NBA. He has played 1310 NBA games, which is by far the highest among active players currently, with Andre Iguodala a distant second with 1192 NBA games. As a result, the King is bound to feature high on the list of total shots missed in the NBA. He is currently fourth, and is well on track to finish his career as the player with the most missed shots ever.
However, this is not by any means a representation of his overall skill. Currently, it is the late LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant who leads the list for most missed shots, with a total of 14,481 missed shots in 1346 games, which is comparatively much higher than LeBron. James has played 36 fewer games than Kobe but the latter missed 1700 more shots. That fact is proven also by Kobe’s overall career shooting efficiency, which was less than 49% at the end of his career.
In such a scenario, the fact that LeBron James has missed so many shots does not amount to much, as he for years performed in the NBA at a high level and boasts of a healthy shooting efficiency when compared to his counterparts. The overall list of the most missed shots in the NBA has some other legendary names as well.
Boston Celtics legend John Havlicek 13,417 missed shots and finished his career with a whopping eight NBA titles. Havlicek was part of the famous Celtics’ dynasty that also included the likes of Sam Jones and Bill Russell. Finally, 12-time All-Star Elvin Hayes finished with 13,296 missed shots, which puts him at number three.
The top five is rounded up by Karl Malone, followed by the likes of Dirk Nowitzki, Kareem-Abdul Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Carmelo Anthony. Anthony is ninth on the overall list and has the second-most missed NBA shots among active players, with 12,120. Regardless, as is obvious, LeBron James might have missed a lot of shots in the NBA, but he is in some illustrious company in the overall list.