You ever hear that Michael Jordan quote? The one where he talks about missing over 9,000 shots and losing almost 300 games? He says that’s why he succeeds. Honestly, he was being modest. In the real world of professional hoops, 9,000 misses is basically a warm-up for the true iron-clanking legends.
If you want to find the most missed shots in NBA history, you don't look at the benchwarmers or the guys who flamed out after three years. You look at the icons. The statues. The guys who own the city.
The record for the most missed field goals is a badge of honor, even if it sounds like an insult. To miss 14,000 times, a coach has to trust you enough to let you shoot 30,000 times. Most players get benched after five straight bricks. These guys? They just get told to keep shooting.
The King of the Clank: LeBron James Takes the Crown
For a long time, this was Kobe’s record. It felt right, didn't it? The "Mamba Mentality" was practically built on the idea that a contested fadeaway was better than a pass to a wide-open Chris Mihm. But as of 2026, LeBron James has officially surpassed Kobe Bryant for the most missed shots in NBA history.
LeBron has missed over 15,200 field goals.
Think about that number for a second. If you went to your local gym and tried to miss 15,000 shots on purpose, your arms would probably fall off by Tuesday. But here’s the kicker: LeBron is also the league’s all-time leading scorer. He’s shot over 50% for his career. The only reason he has the most misses is that he’s played forever and touched the ball more than almost anyone who has ever lived.
It’s a volume game. If you work at a bakery for 23 years, you’re going to burn more loaves of bread than the guy who started last week. It doesn't mean you're a bad baker. It means you’ve baked a billion rolls.
The Kobe Bryant Legacy: 14,481 Bricks of Pure Will
Kobe Bryant held the top spot for years with 14,481 misses. Unlike LeBron, who is a freight train of efficiency, Kobe’s misses were part of his art. He wasn't just missing; he was daring the universe to let the next one go in.
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There’s a famous story from 2014. The Lakers were playing the Grizzlies. Kobe missed a shot in the fourth quarter, and that specific miss broke John Havlicek’s long-standing record. When reporters asked him about it later, he basically shrugged.
"You've got to step up and play, man. You can't worry about criticism. You can't worry about failure."
Kobe’s career shooting percentage was 44.7%. In the analytics era, people love to tear that apart. They say he was inefficient. But they weren't there in the Staples Center when the shot clock was at two seconds and four defenders were draped over him. Who else was taking that shot? Smush Parker? No. Kobe took the miss so his team had a chance to win.
The "Hondo" and the Big E: Old School Missing
Before LeBron and Kobe, the leaderboard was owned by John Havlicek and Elvin Hayes.
Havlicek (13,417 misses) was the engine of the Boston Celtics. He ran miles. He never stopped. Because he played in an era without a three-point line, he had to take a massive amount of mid-range jumpers and contested layups to get his 26,000 points.
Then you have Elvin Hayes. "The Big E." He missed 13,296 shots. People sort of forget how dominant he was because he played in the 70s, but the guy was a tank. He played 1,303 games and missed only nine in his entire career. That kind of durability is how you end up on this list. You show up, you demand the ball, and you live with the result.
The All-Time Leaders in Missed Field Goals (Career)
- LeBron James: ~15,260 and counting
- Kobe Bryant: 14,481
- John Havlicek: 13,417
- Elvin Hayes: 13,296
- Karl Malone: 12,682
- Dirk Nowitzki: 12,565
- Carmelo Anthony: 12,524
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 12,470
Look at that list. Every single one of them is a Hall of Famer. Every one of them has a ring or multiple MVPs. If you’re on this list, you’re royalty.
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Why Russell Westbrook is the Modern Anomaly
We can't talk about missed shots without mentioning Russell Westbrook. He’s currently sitting in the top 10 with over 12,300 misses.
Russ is different. While LeBron's misses come from 20+ years of play and Kobe’s came from "bad" shot selection that often worked, Westbrook’s misses feel more... violent? He plays at 100 miles per hour. Sometimes he hits the backboard so hard you think it’s going to shatter.
Critics use his missed shots as a weapon against him. They call him "Westbrick." But the reality is that he’s one of the only players in history to average a triple-double for multiple seasons. You don't get those numbers by playing safe. You get them by being a relentless, unapologetic force of nature who isn't afraid to look stupid by missing a layup.
The Math of Greatness
Let’s get nerdy for a second. If you shoot 45% from the field—which is a very solid career average for a guard—you are, by definition, missing 55% of your shots.
To become a 25,000-point scorer, you generally need to take about 20,000 shots. At a 45% clip, that means you are going to miss 11,000 times. There is no way around it. You cannot reach the mountaintop of NBA scoring without leaving a trail of broken rims behind you.
Even Michael Jordan is high on this list. He missed 12,345 shots. That is a perfect, sequential number of failure. And yet, he’s the GOAT for most people. Why? Because the misses didn't scare him.
The Longevity Tax
The most missed shots in NBA history is essentially a "Longevity Tax."
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If you are good enough to stay in the league for 20 years, you are going to rack up some ugly stats. Vince Carter played until he was 43. He’s on the list (12,046 misses). Dirk Nowitzki played 21 seasons. He’s on the list.
The only way to avoid this list is to be a specialist who only dunks—like DeAndre Jordan—or to be a player who isn't good enough to keep a starting job. If you aren't missing, you aren't shooting. And if you aren't shooting, you aren't a star.
What This Means for Your Game
The takeaway here isn't that missing is good. It's that the fear of missing is what kills careers.
When you see LeBron or Steph Curry (who is rapidly climbing the miss list because of his three-point volume) clank a shot, they don't hang their heads. They run back on defense and wait for the next chance to let it fly.
If you want to track these stats in real-time, keep an eye on active guys like Kevin Durant and James Harden. They are both over the 10,000-miss mark. By the time they retire, they’ll be deep in the top five.
Next Steps for the Stat-Heads:
- Check out Basketball-Reference to see the "Active Leaders" in missed field goals; the gap between LeBron and the rest of the pack is growing every Tuesday night.
- Look into True Shooting Percentage (TS%) instead of just raw misses. It gives a better picture of how much those misses actually hurt (or don't hurt) the team.
- Watch a replay of Kobe’s final game. He missed 38 shots that night. He also scored 60 points. That's the whole story right there.