Eighteen months ago, we declared Kobe Bryant the 12th greatest player of all-time. While we’re currently reassessing that number (you’ll know what we’re talking about in the not-too-distant future), Bryant’s busy climbing the career scoring list. As of Friday night, he’s now recorded the eight most points all-time. ESPN LA has a full write-up:
Bryant’s breakaway dunk with 3:29 remaining in the first quarter gave him 13 points for the game, passing Olajuwon’s 26,946 career points for eighth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
Bryant finished the game with 38 points on 13-of-27 shooting, but the Kings won 100-95 despite coming into the game with a 4-16 road record.
“It’s obviously a huge honor,” Bryant, a 15-year veteran, said after Friday’s loss. “I’ve been playing for a while and these milestones mean a lot.”
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Bryant is one of just three guards in the all-time top 10 along with Michael Jordan (third; 32,292) and Oscar Robertson (10th; 26,710).
“Typically big men have been known to kind of dominate the ball and the bigs that are on that list are obviously the all-time greats,” Bryant said. “I guess there’s a couple little guys that are feisty.”
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The next players in Bryant’s path are Elvin Hayes at No. 7 (27,313), Moses Malone at No. 6 (27,409) and former teammate Shaquille O’Neal at No. 5.
Now in his 15th season and clearly no longer a pup, enjoy KB24 while you still can.