Ranking Kobe Bryant's 10 Greatest Game-Winners

In the history of NBA basketball, if there is one player who approaches the amount of certainty Michael Jordan gave a team of winning a close game, it has to be Kobe Bryant. There have been others through the course of history: we must never forget the assassin that Larry Bird was, nor can we ignore the exploits of Reggie Miller.

But among players who had to carry their teams through close games consistently without much help (Kobe never got another player of his caliber to play with him after Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Heat), Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan are of their own ilk. Larry Bird played a large part of his career with one of the greatest power forwards ever to play in Kevin McHale (not to mention center Robert Parish), so it wasn't like he didn't have help to close out clutch games.

Over the course of his career, Kobe hit a whopping 36 game-winners, including free throws. This excludes a number of daggers he buried in his opponents' hearts during the rest of clutch time - which would probably take the number into 3 digits.

Ranking the eligible field goals into a top 10 is an uphill task, because no matter whatever criterion we apply here, there are too many amazing plays being left out of this list. And yet, we make our best attempts to bring an ordered compilation of the very best shots buried by the Black Mamba in clutch time.

The list is ranked on 3 parameters:

(a) The difficulty of the shot in question (though of course, there were no 'difficult' shots as such for the Mamba)

(b) The ability of the primary defender(s) guarding him

(c) The stakes of the match in question

Note: A couple of our games have 2 ridiculous shots by Kobe, which we're clubbing together.

Without further ado, here goes our list of the top 10 greatest game-winners hit by Kobe:

#10 vs the Denver Nuggets, regular season 2003-04, 19th December 2003

One of Kobe's greatest ever clutch shots came in the midst of a tumultuous 2003-04 season for the Los Angeles Lakers. Embroiled at the heart of the sexual assault case that sent many sponsors scurrying away from him, Kobe came into this game as a substitute - having missed the pre-game warmups and tipoff due to the legal process relating to the case itself.

He did not have a great game all-in-all either, making only 4 of the 13 field goals he attempted before this, and ending it with a +/- of -4. The L, however, went to the Denver Nuggets, as Mamba knocked down the game-winner in the face of Andre Miller and Jon Barry from just inside the 3-point line.

#9 vs the Toronto Raptors, regular season 2009-10, 9th March 2010

Unfortunately for the Toronto Raptors, some of Kobe's all-time great games came against the expansion team. This game played at the Staples Center was no exception, as the Lakers marched to the 47th win of their season on the back of Kobe's 32-point game.

The game went down to the wire, as the Lakers inbounded the ball to Pau Gasol with 9.5 seconds of game time left. Gasol faked a pass to Lamar Odom before setting Kobe up at the 3-point line with Antoine Wright all over him in the triple threat position.

By the time Kobe moved right and bounced his first dribble, Andrea Bargnani joined forces with Wright to double-team the Mamba. It was all to no avail as Kobe splashed the baseline jumper in both their faces to give the Lakers another W.

#8 vs the Boston Celtics, Regular season 2009-10, 31st January 2010

At the peak of the most recent Celtics-Lakers rivalry, Kobe Bryant's Lakers and the Big 3 Celtics were fated to meet in one of the best-contested NBA Finals in the history of the league. The regular season series was an even split as the Lakers beat the Celtics 90-89 at the Garden, before losing 86-87 at the Staples Centre.

In the first matchup, Kobe Bryant made the all-important game-winner while being guarded by Ray Allen. Despite not having the best of shooting nights (Kobe scored 17 points on 7-of-19 shooting before this shot), one would expect the Mamba to make the difference when it matters most, with the Lakers down by 11 with 9 minutes left in the game.

And so he did. Bringing the ball up court, Kobe passed the ball to Bynum at the baseline, before receiving it at the 3-point line. He drove into the paint area, before splashing an off-balance fadeaway jumper in the face of textbook defense by Allen.

#7 vs the Cleveland Cavaliers, Regular season 2005-06, 12th January 2006

(skip to 1:40 for the game-winner)

10 days prior to logging the highest-scoring game of this century with 81 points against the Raptors, Kobe and LeBron James (then coming into his prime) locked horns in one of the best regular season games of the 2005-06 season.

Despite being just 6-of-18 from the floor while facing LeBron on most of his possessions, Kobe proceeded to splash the last 3 shots of the game for the Lakers. On the play in question, Kobe faces a soft double team comprising of a prime LeBron (who was among the league's best defenders at the time) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

He gets to the spot from which he scored on his previous field goal attempt and nonchalantly spots up for the dagger mid-range jumper which turned out to be the game-winner after LeBron missed a potential game-winner of his own.

2 elite defenders? No problem for prime Kobe!

#6 vs the Indiana Pacers, NBA Finals game 4, 14th June 2000

(skip to 5:04 in the video below for the shot in question)

Play the first Finals series of his career, Kobe relished the chance to be the closer for the rampaging Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately, he was unable to contribute much in games 2 and 3, going down with an ankle sprain.

Making the comeback in game 4 but still in far from perfect shape for Finals basketball, Kobe proceeded to drop 28 points on Reggie Miller and co. He took over the game in its entirety when Shaquille O'Neal fouled out in overtime.

He sealed the game with a high-energy play which belongs more to the first quarter of games rather than the last 10 seconds of an NBA Finals match. Due to the fact that Kobe beats 3 Pacers players in rebounding distance to lay it in, plus the fact that this is a Finals game, we place this shot at #6.

#5 vs the Phoenix Suns, Western Conference Semifinals Game 2, 10th May 2000

It was this shot against the Phoenix Suns in game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals that kicked off the legend of Kobe as a clutch game-winner. While Kobe's overall game stats weren't very impressive (he scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting), coach Phil Jackson gave the ball to him in clutch time, knowing his incredible scoring prowess in isolation.

Kobe found himself facing a to-be-prime Jason Kidd, who's arguably the greatest defender to ever play at the point guard position. #8 ran down the clock to less than 10 seconds before crossing up Kidd and getting separation. Rodney Rogers rushes in for the help defense, but Kobe drained the game-winner with 2 hands in his face.

#4 vs the Miami Heat, Regular season 2009-10, 4th December 2009

'Flash' as Dwyane Wade was wont to be called in his heyday, was one of the toughest competitors Kobe ever faced in his 20-year career. Wade is one of the greatest shot-blocking guards in history, and at the time of this duel was a 2-time All-Defensive team selection (he bagged one this season as well).

The defending champions had a bit of an off-game against a surging Miami Heat powered by Wade's scoring bursts. They found themselves down 107-105 with 3.2 seconds on the clock, and Kobe receives the inbound pass with Wade harassing him and taking him as far away from the hoop as possible.

While it looks like a desperation shot, Kobe beats the perfect on-ball defense played by Wade and banks in a DEEP 3-pointer to give the Lakers the win on the night. He had 17 points in the 4th quarter that night.

#3 vs the San Antonio Spurs, Western Conference Semifinals Game 4, 12th May 2002

(skip to 5:13 in the video below for the game-winning play)

In one of the most well-matched Western Conference Finals ever played, Kobe & Shaq's Lakers went up against the Twin Tower Spurs. Both teams had identical regular season records of 58-24, and Tim Duncan had won the regular season MVP award for the first time in his career that season.

The Lakers went into the game with a 2-1 series lead. Kobe had a rough shooting night, and indeed, in the play in question, he almost turned the ball over with Bruce Bowen on him. Derek Fisher rescues the ball and hoists a shot up with barely any time left on the shot clock. Kobe draws one of the toughest rebounds of his career (with David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker contesting him), and proceeds to score over a fierce contest by David Robinson.

While Kobe has knocked down numerous textbook jumpers to win games, this play by him is one of the best hustle plays of his career, and the importance of the game makes it imperative for us to rank it at #3.

#2 vs the Portland Trail Blazers, regular season 2003-04, 14th April 2004

The game-tying shot made by Kobe in this game ranks all the way up among the toughest shots ever to win an NBA game. With Ruben Patterson paying close attention to him, Kobe tries to create separation for a better look from downtown, but he does not find a screen to help him out. Stopping the dribble, Kobe makes incredible use of his footwork and athleticism to launch a 3-pointer fully contested by Patterson. The shot goes into the despair of the Trail Blazers fans.

Kobe isn't done for the game, though. Finding himself in a hot streak in double overtime, Kobe splashes a turnaround, off-balance 3-pointer, beating away a tough contest. The degree of difficulty of these two shots is probably the highest of any game-winner attempted by Kobe, but he drains them, all the same, to win the division title for the Lakers.

#1 vs the Phoenix Suns, Western Conference Playoffs 1st round, game 4, 30th April 2006

Prime Kobe, as pointed out before, was a handful for any player in the league at his peak in 2006. Even as the #8 seed, the Lakers had a chance against a team in a playoff series as long as Kobe continued to play out of his mind.

Which he did during in the clutch of this game. With the Lakers down 2 points and a possession, Smush Parker succeeds in stripping Steve Nash from an inbounds play and passes it to Devean George, who draws a defender to him. From the dish, Kobe pulled off an athletics baseline drive that tied the game at 90.

The Lakers found themselves trailing again with 6 seconds left in overtime. In a jump-ball situation involving Luke Walton and Steve Nash, Kobe takes control of the ball and proceeds to nail a game-winner over 2 Suns defenders, giving the Lakers a 3-1 lead in the series.