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On this date 19 years ago, Kobe Bryant broke the record for most 3-pointers in a game with 12. The previous record holder was Dennis Scott, who made 11 in 1996. Scott’s record lasted seven years until Bryant broke it.
Bryant scored 45 points in the game, shooting 57%, including 12 of 18 from 3-point range. He made nine 3-pointers in a row at one point. The LA Lakers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, who are now the OKC Thunder, 119-98.
Bryant’s record lasted only three years before being tied by Donyell Marshall, who would hit 12 in 2005. However, Stephen Curry reset the mark in 2016, when he made 13.
The NBA has evolved into a league dominated by 3-point shooting and is a very different league than when Bryant played.
"Black Mamba" attempted only more than five 3-pointers per game seven times in his 20-year career. He shot only 33% from 3-point range. But if he played in the modern era, he probably would have expanded his game to the 3-point line. However, Bryant was a quality 3-point shooter in his era, which helped him break a record that stood for nine years.
Kobe Bryant's shooting effect on the game
Even though Bryant was not one of the NBA's best 3-point shooters of his time, he is still part of the first stepping stones that have led to the modern NBA.
The 3-pointer debuted in the NBA in 1979.
Bryant made 1,827 3-pointers in his career, the 20th-best total in NBA history. The top 20 players on the list played in the league at the same time as Bryant. But what made Bryant so special was his ability to combine his outside shooting with other parts of his game, like getting into the paint and making midrange jumpers.
As the NBA fully adopted the 3-point line, Bryant was still a big part of that expansion. He paved part of the way to show players like Curry that the record could be broken and expand the game to another level.
Bryant has left his mark on the NBA in numerous ways. One of them has been his ability to adapt to the 3-point line to pave the road to what it is now.
Bryant, a Hall of Famer, led the league in scoring twice.
