The NBA is simply where amazing things happen. NBA players are one of the most talented athletes in the world. As a result, the NBA is full of memories of exciting games that ended with a heart-breaking shot. Honestly, this article would have been littered with plays from two of the league's best scorers, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
Hence this list includes players from this era who have crushed the hopes of their opponents in the most infamous way possible, through a game-winner. These shots are legacy creating, historically defining and plain cold.
Here are 10 of the most demoralizing shots in NBA history. May the deceased hopes and ambitions of the NBA players involved in article rest firmly in peace.
10. Damian Lillard's Moment
Damian Lillard was drafted into the NBA in 2012. Since then, he was transformed into one of the most promising point guards. His athleticism and shooting makes him one of the most explosive young guards in the NBA. But of course, it wasn't always this way. In 2014, Damian Lillard shared the Portland Trailblazers with the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge, Nic Batum, and Wesley Matthews. The Blazers were a powerhouse NBA team that threatened to take the NBA by storm with a deep Playoffs run. They eventually did, and it came at the expense of the budding Houston Rockets.
In a series that saw the breakout of LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard, the Houston Rockets pushed the Trailblazers to six games, and they look primed to extend the series to seven games. That was until Damian Lillard put on the cape and took over. Remember this iconic shot?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2GJ2PwXQ4E
With under a second left on the clock, Lillard hit one of the most impossible shots to give the Blazers the win, clinching their first series in 14 years. If you want to know how the Rockets felt about losing a series in an embarrassing way, just take a look at Dwight Howard's facial expression. It also didn't help that Chandler Parsons did almost nothing to prevent the shot from happening. This shot marked the beginning of the Damian Lillard we all know now, and it ended the Rockets' playoff hopes in an instant. There is just one word to describe that feeling. Ouch.
9. Merry Christmas, Kyrie Irving
When Kyrie Irving ripped the hearts out of the Warriors in the Finals, the 2015 NBA champions responded by signing Kevin Durant.
This infamous acquisition put fear into the NBA that the Warriors would get their revenge in a terrifying way. They did eventually get their revenge, but on Christmas of 2016, that didn't happen. In fact, Kyrie Irving made everyone wonder again if the Warriors could defeat the Cavaliers.
Irving delivered again for the Cavaliers who needed a big shot to win the game. This came at the expense of the Warriors, who had to be wondering about their chances against the Cavaliers after losing to them again after a game-winning shot by Uncle Drew. Never mind that Richard Jefferson would go on to foul Kevin Durant on the last play for salvation for the Warriors. Again, the Cavaliers put a dagger in the hearts of the Warriors, and it came on Christmas day.
8. Stephen Curry kills the Thunder
Stephen Curry, Steph Curry, Chef Curry, or whatever you identify him as is the best shooter on the planet. There is no NBA player, now or then, tat has the range and ability that Curry demonstrates from the three point line each night. Curry's magical range is dangerous for NBA defenses, especially in crunch time. The OKC Thunder had to learn that the hard way. During a 2016 match-up with the Thunder, the Warriors found themselves in a predicament. They were battling a difficult Thunder team, with both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Late in the game, Kevin Durant would foul out for the first time in his career. That left Curry with the task of coming back and defeating the Thunder with one more superstar on the Thunder.
He did more than succeed. Curry destroyed the Thunder in front of their home crowd. The Thunder admittedly put up a fight, but the Warriors had the best shooter of all time, and that killed the Thunder's chances in the long run. Still, why was this shot so demoralizing? This marked the first time that Curry victimized the Thunder, and it sure wasn't the last.
It was plays like that, fresh off a championship/MVP season, that reminded the world the level a point-guard driven league still has to reach to get to him. Even now, Stephen Curry bugs the Thunder. He took Durant away from the team that drafted him, and gave the former something that the Thunder couldn't, a NBA title. Before all of that, he gave them one final goodbye. It had to hurt.
7. Ray Allen saves the Heat
Ray Allen is one of the greatest NBA sharpshooters of all time. After winning a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008, he would help them obtain playoff success down the line. That was until he joined the Miami Heat in 2012. In that year, Allen was started to age. He clearly wasn't the explosive shooter he used to be in his prime, but he could still get the job done. Little did he know, his excellent shooting ability would help LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the 2013 NBA Finals.
In the 2013 NBA Finals, the Miami Heat found themselves down 3-2 to the San Antonio Spurs. LeBron James would uncharacteristically extend the game within two point with an incredible three pointer in traffic. However, Ray Allen broke the heart of the Spurs with a fadeaway three pointer in the corner to tie the game. It was a defining moment that build the Heat's legacy atop the NBA, and one that killed the dreams of Spurs fans everywhere.
6. Kobe Bryant sinks the Heat
Say what you want about the Black Mamba. Kobe Bryant was a killer in the clutch, and he has shown that over the course of his entire 20-year NBA career. Towards the end of the 2000s, Bryant build his throne as the best player in the NBA, winning back to back titles in 2009 and 2010.
There was a player that often competed with Bryant for the title as the NBA's best shooting guard. It was Dwayne Wade. In one of their anticipated match-ups, Bryant stone-walled Wade's ascension to the NBA's top shooting guard spot with one shot.
The shot was ridiculous. It was impossible. It was only a shot that only Kobe Bryant could make. Visibly, the Miami Heat did all they could to stop him, but it just wasn't enough. That was often the narrative for Bryant's victims. They did all they could but couldn't stop him at the end. The shot would have maybe hurt worse if he was uncontested, but the Heat played great defense on him. It didn't help much that he hit the impossible shot over Dwayne Wade's outstretched arms.
5. Kobe Bryant sinks the Jazz
Kobe Bryant has a tendency to ruin our interpretation of the impossible. During Kobe Bryant's 2016 retirement tour, he played the Utah Jazz in his final NBA game. Many joked that Bryant would score 60 points in his final NBA game years ago, but no one ever guessed that he would do it, even if he came from over 25 shots. Just take a look at the greatness of Kobe Bryant below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmVEGQc34k8
Disregard the obvious offensive foul committed by Julius Randle, and look at how this game-winner came because of the Jazz' non-existent defense. Kobe Bryant was hot the entire game, and the Jazz refused to play any physical defense on the Black Mamba. Granted, the Jazz probably wanted to see Bryant retire in glory. Still, who wants to be on the receiving end of a game-winner on one of the most historic nights in NBA history? No one. You couldn't script what happened though. The Jazz lost to Kobe Bryant, and didn't make the playoffs either. That had to feel terrible for a team who made losing a habit that year.
4. Michael Jordan wins his 6th ring
The only player that could compete with Bryant for the title of the NBA's most clutch player is the NBA legend, Michael Jordan himself. Unlike Bryant, Jordan dominated the defenses of his day.
They simply had no answer for him, so he was a threat every time in the clutch. One of Michael Jordan's most iconic moments was his game-winner against the Utah Jazz to win his sixth title. The Bulls dominated the 90s with the brilliant play of Michael Jordan, and he once again stole the hearts of the Jazz with a demoralizing play.
The most unfortunate thing about this win was that Jordan beat the Jazz for the second straight year. In the 1997 NBA Finals, the Bulls beat the Jazz in six games, and they beat them again in 1998 in six games. Michael Jordan successfully obliterated the Jazz in two consecutive years, denying Karl Malone and John Stockton from receiving that elusive NBA title. In fact, he took over the last minutes of the game.
On offense and defense, Jordan beat the Jazz. With a push-off and a midrange, Jordan beat one of the greatest teams of all-time on the road. That has to hurt.
3. Michael Jordan sinks the Pistons
Michael Jordan's collection of game winners is legendary. Still, it is worth mentioning that Jordan was victimized early in his career by the Detroit Pistons. Every year, the Pistons put the Bulls out of the playoffs, emphasizing their brutal play on Michael Jordan. Once the 90s began, this changed for the better. Michael Jordan got older and better, and the Bulls became better as a team. The Pistons also became worn out, and Jordan torched them as a result.
In 1992, Jordan delivered one of his most signature game-winners that showed that the Pistons were out of the Bulls' league. You can see for yourself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N35DFIZu1pI
Joe Dumars looked to seal the deal for the Pistons late in the game, but Jordan stole the game from right under them. He even did it with a three pointer, something that is rare from Michael Jordan. With that shot, the Pistons were history, and the Bulls dynasty continued undisturbed.
2. Kevin Durant beats LeBron James
Now there there is starting to become more conversation about capturing Michael Jordan's title as the greatest of all time. After the 2017 NBA Finals, however, there is starting to become more talk about Kevin Durant becoming the best player in the NBA. While James has more accomplishments and accolades, it can be argued that Durant is the better player of the two. This talk didn't start getting interesting, until Durant won his first NBA title by shooting a clutch three over LeBron James himself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO5vDFxDBYk
Why did it hurt so much? Durant shot a clutch shot over James to win the game and put the Warriors in position to win the series, and he dominated his match-up with LeBron over the entire series. It's one thing to lose the series, but it's another to get outplayed as well. That's true even if you're LeBron James.
1. Kyrie Irving's Game 7 Winner
There is nothing that can describe the impact that Kyrie Irving's deadly game winner had on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Throw away any praise you have about LeBron James' epic block, and focus your attention on Kyrie Irving. In order to make the Cavaliers' epic comeback possible, someone had to take the final shot. Irving stepped up to the plate, and knocked it down over the best shooter in NBA history. For the Cleveland Cavaliers, they were overjoyed at the fall of the Goliath of the NBA. For the Golden State Warriors, you can only imagine how they felt at that moment. Towards the end of the 2016 NBA Finals, nothing went according to plan for the Warriors.
The Warriors had won 73 games in the previous season and were defeated by the Cavaliers in seven games in the most heart-breaking fashion. A blow-out would have stung, a game-winner left a Kevin Durant-sized scar that still haunts the Warriors to this day.
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