Shooting Ability and Percentage

Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are known for their unstoppable scoring abilities on the basketball court. These two individuals could score from anywhere on the floor with ease. Kobe Bryant may be a far better pure shooter than Michael Jordan, but Jordan’s ability to get to the basket and finish with contact is unmatched. With this in Jordan’s arsenal he finished his career with a high field goal percentage. Jordan had the ability to make everyone else around him a major threat on the court this is still a concept that Bryant is still grasping. Bryant’s field goal percentage is low because he has led the NBA multiple times in field goal attempts.

Here is a Comparison to Field Goal percentage between Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

Kobe has only 7 career 50 point games or higher against top 10 rated defenses. Jordan had 22 career 50 point games or higher against top 10 rated NBA defenses.

Seasons over 32 points per game:
Michael Jordan: 5
Kobe Bryant: 1   

Regular season
Seasons under 50% shooting:
Kobe Bryant: 15
Michael Jordan: 9

Seasons under 48% shooting:
Kobe Bryant: 15
Michael Jordan: 5

Seasons over 50% shooting:
Kobe Bryant: 0
Michael Jordan: 6

Seasons over 52% shooting:
Kobe Bryant: 0
Michael Jordan: 4

Regular season
Games with under 50% shooting:
Michael Jordan: 489
Kobe Bryant: 678

Regular season
Games with under 48% shooting:
Michael Jordan: 458
Kobe Bryant: 651

Regular season
Games with under 46% shooting:
Michael Jordan: 388
Kobe Bryant: 578

Regular season
Games with under 44% shooting:
Michael Jordan: 296
Kobe Bryant: 490

Regular season
Games with under 42% shooting:
Michael Jordan: 234
Kobe Bryant: 426

Regular season
Games with under 40% shooting:
Michael Jordan: 158
Kobe Bryant: 344

Regular season
Games with under 35% shooting:
Michael Jordan: 88
Kobe Bryant: 207

Regular season
Games with under 30% shooting:
Michael Jordan: 41
Kobe Bryant: 107

Regular season
Games with 60% or better shooting:
Michael “Air” Jordan: 173
Kobe “Bean” Bryant: 129

Regular season
Games with 50% or better shooting:
Michael “Air” Jordan: 556
Kobe “Bean” Bryant: 425

Regular season
Games with 20 shots made on 60% or better shooting:
MJ: 16
Kobe: 3

Regular season
Games with 50 points & less than 10 free throw attempts:
MJ: 3
Kobe: 1

NBA Playoffs
50 point or higher games:
Kobe: 1
MJ: 8

NBA Playoffs
40 point or higher games:
Kobe: 11
MJ: 38

NBA Playoffs
30 point or higher games:
Kobe: 81
MJ: 109

Regular season & Playoffs combined
40 point or higher games:
MJ: 211
Kobe: 118

Regular season & Playoffs combined
30 point or higher games:
MJ: 671
Kobe: 441

Regular season
Games with 40 points and under 50% shooting:
MJ: 29
Kobe: 45
Yes, that’s right, almost half of Kobe’s 40 point games involved missing more shots than made ones.
Regular Season Turnovers:
Kobe: 3228 in 1103 games
MJ: 2924 in 1072 games

Regular season
50 point games with under 50% shooting:
Michael Jordan: 1 of his 31 games (15-31, 48%)
Kobe Bryant: 6 of his 24 games

Regular season
50 point games with under 45% shooting:
Michael Jordan: 0
Kobe Bryant: 3