Who Has the Most Game Winners in the NBA?
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We take a look at which NBA players have the most game-winning shots in history. Who comes out on top?
Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan is considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time. He was a dominant force on both ends of the court and led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA Championships. Jordan also holds the record for the most game-winning shots in NBA history.
His Airness
Michael Jordan is an American former professional basketball player who is widely considered to be the greatest of all time. His Airness played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. He was a five-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), a six-time NBA Finals MVP, a six-time All-NBA First Team selection, a nine-time NBA All-Defensive First Team member, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Jordan was also a 14-time NBA All-Star and won three All-Star MVP awards. He led the league in scoring 10 times and won six NBA championships with the Bulls.
In 1996, he was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. Jordan’s individual accolades and accomplishments include five regular season MVP Awards, an All-Star MVP, ten scoring titles (both all-time records), three steals titles, six NBA Finals MVP Awards (an all-time record), nineAll-NBA First Team selections, fourteen NBA All-Star Game selections (another all time record), ten All-Defensive First Team selections, fourteenAll-Star Game appearances (tied for the most ever), three Slam Dunk Contest wins, and he holds the NBA records for highest career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and lowest career playoff scoring average (22.9 points per game).
The G.O.A.T.
No one in the history of the NBA has more game-winning shots than Michael Jordan. He hit the game-winner against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1989, famously known as “The Shot.” It gave the Jordan-led Chicago Bulls a 5-3 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls went on to win the series and eventually their first NBA championship.
Jordan also hit a buzzer-beating jumper to defeat the Utah Jazz in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, giving the Bulls their sixth title of the 1990s. That shot is widely considered to be one of the biggest in NBA history.
In total, Jordan hit 12 game-winners during his illustrious career. That’s two more than Kobe Bryant, who is second on the all-time list. Other players with multiple game-winners include Jerry West, John Stockton, Damian Lillard and LeBron James.
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Brynt, also known as the Black Mamba, is a retired professional basketball player. He played his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is widely considered one of the greatest players of all time. Bryant is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer with 33,643 points. He is also the all-time leading scorer in Lakers history.
The Black Mamba
Kobe Bean Bryant was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He entered the league directly from high school, and won five NBA championships with the team. Bryant is an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team. He led the NBA in scoring during two seasons, and ranks third on both the league’s all-time regular season scoring and all-time postseason scoring lists.
Kobe was drafted out of high school by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick in 1996 but was immediately traded to the Lakers. As a rookie, he played a significant role in helping the team win their first NBA championship after defeating the Indiana Pacers 4–2 in662 games). In 2003–04, he scored a career-high 81 points against Toronto Raptors, becoming only second player to do so after Wilt Chamberlain.
Mr. 81
On November 16, Kobe Bryant made NBA history by scoring the most Points in a Single Game. He finished the game against the Toronto Raptors with 81 points, the second-highest total in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s legendary 100-point game.
This was an especially momentous achievement for Kobe, as it occurred on the anniversary of Wilt’s milestone game. It also occurred just days after another memorable performance by Kobe, in which he hit a game-winning shot against the Houston Rockets with just seconds remaining on the clock.
With these two performances, Kobe has now cemented his legacy as one of the greatest players in NBA history. He has shown time and time again that he has the ability to take over a game and lead his team to victory. Lakers fans will certainly never forget these two incredible performances by their favorite player.
LeBron James
As of March 2019, LeBron James has the most game-winning shots in the NBA with 48. Kobe Bryant is in second with 42, and Dwyane Wade is in third with 39. LeBron has made some of the most clutch shots in NBA history, and he continues to rack up the game-winners.
The King
LeBron James is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players in NBA history. He has played in fifteen NBA seasons, eleven of them with the Miami Heat and four with the Cleveland Cavaliers. James has won four NBA championships, four NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, four Finals MVP Awards, and two Olympic gold medals. He has also been selected to fifteen NBA All-Star teams, seventeen All-NBA teams, and fourteen NBA All-Defensive teams.
The Chosen One
LeBron Raymone James Sr. (/ləˈbrɒn/; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in NBA history. James has won four NBA championships, four NBA Most Valuable Player Awards, four Finals MVP Awards, and two Olympic gold medals. He has also been selected to 15 NBA All-Star teams, 17 All-NBA teams, and has been defensive player of the year once. He is the all-time leading scorer in NBA playoff history.
