The greatest NBA shot of the decade, if not of all-time, is Ray Allen’s game-tying, series-saving buzzer-beater in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals. No shot had similar clutchness, bigger stakes, and a higher degree of difficulty. That being said, was it gutsy? Not really. Obviously it took first-rate confidence for Allen to take the shot, but with five seconds remaining and Miami trailing by three points, he had to take it. And so, while it was spectacular, it lacked an ingredient included in every ‘gutsy’ jumper — risk.
Gutsy shots are risky; They display courage and irrational confidence; They’re moments when a player ignores ‘playing-it-safe’ in favor of launching a potential dagger. The following ten shots embody each of these qualities. In order to determine the rankings, we measured each shot by the following three factors.
- Degree of Irrational Confidence — i.e., to what extent did the shot selection (in light of safer options) cause jaws to drop?
- Level of Risk — i.e., if the shot didn’t fall, would the player’s awareness-of-the-moment been brought into question?
- Historic Implications — i.e., what was at stake? The game, series, championship, and/or legacies?
Without further ado, the ‘Ten Gutsiest Shots of the Past Decade.’
