Who Has the Most Missed Shots in NBA History and Why It Matters
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As I sit here scrolling through NBA statistics late at night, I can't help but marvel at the sheer volume of missed shots throughout basketball history. The numbers tell a fascinating story that most casual fans never consider. When we talk about missed shots in NBA history, we're not just discussing failure—we're examining courage, persistence, and the very nature of risk-taking in professional sports. Having followed basketball for over two decades, I've come to appreciate that the players who miss the most shots are often the ones who change the game forever.
The undisputed king of missed shots is none other than Kobe Bryant, who missed an astonishing 14,481 field goals during his regular season career. That's nearly 3,000 more misses than the next player on the list. What's incredible is that Kobe also sits comfortably in the top five for most points scored in NBA history. This paradox reveals something fundamental about basketball excellence—the greatest scorers must also be the most willing to fail. I remember watching Kobe take those difficult fadeaways with two defenders in his face, shots that made analysts cringe but that he believed would go in. His mentality was simple: if you're not missing, you're not taking enough shots.
LeBron James currently sits at around 13,500 missed field goals and counting, while Karl Malone and John Havlicek round out the top five with approximately 12,600 and 12,400 misses respectively. These numbers might seem staggering until you realize that these players also rank among the most prolific scorers the game has ever seen. The correlation is unmistakable—to score massively, you must shoot frequently, and shooting frequently guarantees misses. It's a mathematical certainty that the all-time scoring leaders will inevitably dominate the missed shots category too.
What fascinates me most about these statistics is what they reveal about player psychology and team strategy. The players who accumulate these "negative" statistics are often the ones carrying the heaviest offensive load for their teams. They're the clutch shooters, the bail-out options when plays break down, the courageous souls willing to take the last shot with the game on the line. I've always admired this quality more than perfect shooting percentages. There's something profoundly human about continuing to shoot despite previous failures—it's the basketball equivalent of getting back up after being knocked down.
The reference to Pineda's statement about making appeals and negotiating with both Phoenix and the board resonates deeply with this topic. In basketball terms, star players constantly "appeal" to their coaches and teammates to keep shooting through slumps. They negotiate with their own psychology and team dynamics, much like the situation described. The most successful organizations understand that missed shots are simply the cost of doing business when you have a high-volume scorer. They provide the green light because they recognize that the makes will ultimately outweigh the misses.
From an analytics perspective, the evolution of how we view missed shots has been remarkable. When I first started following basketball in the 90s, high-volume shooters were often criticized for their inefficiency. Today, advanced metrics help us understand context—a contested mid-range jumper with the shot clock expiring has entirely different value than an open three-pointer in transition. The best coaches now recognize that eliminating all difficult shots isn't possible or even desirable. Sometimes, you need your stars to create something from nothing, even if it means adding to their miss totals.
Kobe's approach to shooting embodies what I consider the champion's mindset. He famously said, "I would go 0-for-30 before I would go 0-for-9. Because the only reason you go 0-for-9 is because you stopped shooting." This philosophy explains why he tops both the scoring and missed shots lists. In today's analytics-driven NBA, some might view this as heresy, but I believe there's timeless wisdom in his words. Greatness requires the courage to fail publicly and repeatedly.
The practical implications for coaches and developing players are significant. I've worked with young athletes who become so focused on maintaining high shooting percentages that they pass up good scoring opportunities. They need to understand that legendary scorers like Michael Jordan, who missed over 12,000 shots himself, built their legacies on willingness to fail. The most damaging miss isn't the one that hits rim—it's the shot never taken because of fear of failure.
As the game continues to evolve with more three-point shooting, we're seeing missed shot totals climb even higher. Stephen Curry, despite his legendary accuracy, has already missed over 6,000 three-point attempts alone. The math is simple: if you shoot more threes, you'll miss more threes. But the potential reward makes those misses worthwhile. This risk-reward calculation defines modern basketball strategy at its highest levels.
In my view, the missed shots leaderboard is actually a hall of fame of offensive innovators and fearless competitors. These players transformed basketball by expanding what was considered possible, even if it meant failing more frequently along the way. Their legacy teaches us that in basketball, as in life, meaningful achievement requires accepting—even embracing—the inevitability of failure. The next time you watch a game and see a star player miss a difficult shot, remember that you're witnessing the essential process behind basketball greatness. Those misses aren't failures; they're investments in moments of brilliance that define careers and change games.