Is LeBron, Steph, Durant or Lillard the NBA’s most clutch shooter?
It’s a debate that’s as old as basketball itself: Who do you want to take the shot with the game on the line?
In its annual survey, NBA general managers decisively picked Stephen Curry as the player they’d want to take the last shot, with 55% of all GMs selecting the Warriors superstar. Nets star Kevin Durant received the second-most votes, earning 17% of the vote, and Blazers star Damian Lillard received 14% of the vote.
DeMar DeRozan, Luka Dončić, Nikola Jokić and Kawhi Leonard were the only other players to receive votes from the 30 NBA GMs.
FOX Sports’ Shannon Sharpe doesn’t agree with Curry being the clear runaway choice by GMs to take the clutch shot. In fact, he believes someone was snubbed entirely from the list.
“Hell no [I don’t agree],” Sharpe said on Wednesday’s “Undisputed.” “Give me Dame or give me LeBron [James]. It’s ridiculous that LeBron did not get a vote. Steph actually hasn’t had a whole lot of clutch shots in his playoff career. He’s on 2-of-10 in the last 10 seconds on a game-tying or go-ahead shot in the playoffs and his last make was in 2015.”
Who is the most clutch shooter in the NBA?
NBA GMs said that Steph Curry was the most clutch shooter in the league. Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless disagreed.
Sharpe brought out some more stats to back his case as to why he views Lillard and James as the game’s two most clutch shot makers.
“In the last five seconds of a playoff game, game-tying or go-ahead shot, Dame Lillard is 30%,” Sharpe said. “Steph Curry is 20%. Kevin Durant is 18%. LeBron James is 39%, and he didn’t get a vote!”
Sharpe believes that the narrative of James not being an elite shooter, like the other three, hurt him in the eyes of the GMs.
“When it comes to the playoffs, in the last five seconds with a game-tying or go-ahead shot, LeBron James is hands down the best,” Sharpe said. “LeBron James is two times better in the playoffs [at making those shots than Durant].”
Skip Bayless took issue with Sharpe mentioning James as the best shooter because a pair of his most memorable game-winning shots in the playoffs were catch-and-shoot plays. He also took issue with the GMs voting for Lillard.
“What happened in the Olympic gold medal game against France in 2021, when Kevin Durant saved their bacon?” Bayless said. “Dame goes to the free-throw line late in the game to ice the game, and he misses both free throws. Don’t give me he’s ‘Dame Time!’ Kevin said, ‘Give me the damn ball and I’ll go down there and make it and end this.'”
Sharpe pressed Bayless on any memorable clutch shots Durant has made in the NBA playoffs considering his low shooting percentage in those moments.
“Well, he made a shot that should’ve won the game, but his toenail was on the line, didn’t he?” Bayless said, recalling Durant’s shot to send Game 7 of the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Bucks to overtime.
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