Can Kobe Bryant Shoot 50 Percent Next Season with Steve Nash at the Point?

The Los Angeles Lakers can expect their offensive efficiency as a team to improve in 2012-13 with Steve Nash running the point, but he should make life a lot easier on the offensive end of the floor for his superstar teammates, as well.

Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol will thrive in pick-and-roll situations with Nash, and each of them can expect an abundance of easy looks at the rim.

Even Metta World Peace's scoring average should increase if he can capitalize on the numerous open corner three-point looks he figures to get in a Nash-driven offense.

Nash's impact on Kobe Bryant might be summed up as addition by subtraction, because while the number of attempts from the field will likely go down for Bryant, his shooting percentage should go up. But how far?

Michael Jordan and Bryant are closer as players than many people give them credit for, but the one place Jordan was clearly ahead of Bryant is offensive efficiency.

Jordan managed to shoot an amazing 50 percent from the field for his entire career, while Bryant has never shot higher than 46 percent in a season.

One of the reasons Bryant has never hit 50 percent from the field is the large volume of shots he takes, which includes a number of the horrible variety.

Bryant came a close second to Kevin Durant for the NBA's scoring title last season, but he led the league in shot attempts from the field. Bryant has often been described as the best "bad-shot-maker" in the NBA, but that designation doesn't change the fact that he still takes bad shots.



And Bryant doesn't always make it easy on himself, either, as the degrees of difficulty on some of his shot attempts border on the unbelievable.

But in fairness to Bryant, it must be difficult to be your team's No. 1 offensive option and best facilitator as well.

Bryant has never had the opportunity of playing with a skilled play...