Dejounte Murray Shouted Out Kobe Bryant After Taking a Historic Number of Shots

Murray finished with one of the highest shot totals in NBA history.

The Atlanta Hawks won their fourth straight game on Thursday night, beating the Boston Celtics, 123-122. Dejounte Murray scored a career-high 44 points and hit the game-winner with 0.1 seconds remaining in overtime as the Hawks defeated the best team in the NBA for the second time in four nights. During his postgame interview, Murray shouted out Kobe Bryant in very fitting way.

"It's the NBA, right? That's the best team in the league. We competed. You know? We didn't use being tired or anything, a back-to-back as an excuse. We came out and we competed. And these are the games I want to be a part of. And I still feel like I played awful. I don't want to take that many shots, but I know Kobe would be proud of me."

When Murray says he doesn't want to take that many shots, he's not alone. Murray finished the game shooting 18-of-44 and made 6-of-19 three-point attempts. Only a few people in the modern NBA have ever taken as many shots as Murray did last night. His 44 attempts are tied for the seventh-most in a single game since 1979.

According to Stat Muse, only Kobe Byrant, Michael Jordan, Chris Webber and Russell Westbrook have taken 44 shots in an NBA game in the last 45 years. For some perspective, Jordan, Webber and Westbrook each did it once. Kobe did it six times. He took 46 the night he scored 81 and went out guns blazing, taking a record 50 shots on his way to putting up 60 points in the final game of his career.

Bryant is the only player you can reference after taking that many shots. That's the true Mamba Mentality.

Stephen Douglas is a writer at The Big Lead.