Sunday, January 9th, 2011 at 12:39 am  |  128 responses

Kobe Bryant Passes Oscar Robertson on Career Scoring List

Hate him or love him, you have to applaud Kobe Bryant’s on-court accomplishments. The 31-year-old’s latest feat, passing Oscar Robertson on the career scoring list, took place on Friday night. Former SLAM contributor, Arash Markazi breaks it down:

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant made a running jump shot with 1:11 remaining in the third quarter against the New Orleans Hornets to move him past Oscar Robertson for ninth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

Bryant finished with 25 points in the Lakers’ 101-97 win over the Hornets on Friday and now has 26,720 points. Next on the list is Hakeem Olajuwon with 26,946 points.

“It’s a huge honor,” Bryant said after the game. “So much of my game is built on those that came before me, Oscar in particular. It’s a huge honor to be moving up that ladder.”

“I don’t know, we’ll see what happens,” Bryant said when asked how high he will go on the all-time scoring list. “The ladder I’m more focused on climbing is Bill Russell’s ladder, so we’ll see.”


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  • Mvp23100

    Folks kill me Oscars the king of the triple double but Kobe is better all around or more skilled what does Kobe do besides score he’s not a great rebounder passer or defender doesn’t block shots he’s a gunner and not even efficient at that

  • http://www.slamonline.com AllBall247

    lol, Phil you can’t be endorsing this guy ^^^

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    Kobe’s not a great defender? ok

  • Mvp23100

    Hype he’s never been a great defender Gil torched LA for 60 Roy kills Kobe when he’s healthy in what instances has he showed to be this great defender
    @Allball get off my balls you female

  • http://www.slamonline.com AllBall247

    lol, If people just don’t like Kobe then cool. If you can’t recognise him as one of the greatest ever, and as a great scorer, very good passer, very good rebounder & very good defender then obviously you are blinded by your bias, or love for Bron.

  • http://www.slamonline.com AllBall247

    I mean, he is not going to be on the court long enough to score this many points if he can’t pass, rebound or defend. Moron.

  • http://slamonline.com Saviour

    OR would be MURDERED in todays game, it wouldn’t even be fair. All these chumps who talk about the older players being better played in a time when training was easier, runners ran slower, weight lifters benched much lower weights, everything was easier than todays competition…Oscar wouldn’t last one season in todays league.

  • Mvp23100

    5 assist a game in the triangle makes you a great passer 4 or 5 boards make you a very good rebounder you clown and what instances has he showed this great defense again because he made all team and who said anything about Bron your a female catching feelings he’s a great scorer that’s it the rest of his game is average or below average

  • http://www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

    All of this stupid is making my head hurt.

  • http://www.slamonline.com AllBall247

    Judging a players skill on stats isn’t the best way to do it. Shaq has always shot over 50% from the field, but is he a good shooter?

    How about his perennial appearances on the All Defense team? That should tell you he is a good defensive player.

    I’m actually a male, not ‘catching any feelings’, as we are talking over the Internet, and you clearly don’t know what your talking about.

  • http://www.slamonline.com AllBall247

    AND, how can a top 10 player all time be below average at everything apart from scoring. Wouldn’t some one of found him out by now? Yet he is 15 years in still doing it, but you obviously know more than all the coaches & players who have tried to stop him and been unable to, on the way to his 5 championships & counting.

  • Mvp23100

    @Myles
    Take a nap son

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    wow MVP23100, you might be stupider than the Nerve

  • tavoris

    Allball247-agreed. The dude has done it all…the only real knock on his game is that he doesn’t trust his teammates. However, the same was said for 95% of the people in the HOF.

  • Mvp23100

    Judging a players skill on stats isn’t the best way to do it-that’s real dumb of you to say player efficiency rating men lie women lie numbers don’t he’s an outstanding scorer you can’t put emphasis on anything else now bron or cp3 Rondo those are players with skills were not talking about rings because we would have to talk about shaq and gasol I never said he wasn’t a great player one the best to do it but your lover is overhyped In plenty facets of his game

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    To say Kobe is only average or below at everything other than scoring is just….ugh

  • Mvp23100

    @Blackphantom
    Yung’uns ice-grillin me ohh you not feelin me
    fine it cost you nothin pay me no mind
    look I’m on my grind cousin ain’t got time for frontin sensitive thugs yall all need hugs

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    …was that little thing you call lyrics supposed to phase me?

  • http://www.slamonline.com AllBall247

    But in this case it isn’t. If you watch Kobe play you can see he is a great passer, it just doesn’t translate into really high assist numbers. Pau is a great passer, how many does he average in the triangle? Its equal opportunity offense.
    Bron is no where near as skilled as Kobe, come on now. CP3 is the best player in the L, and his stats are phenomenal. Rondo is very skilled, but his jumper is below average.
    What does that have to do with anything? Shaq has 4 rings, which is 1 less than Kobe, Pau has 2 rings, none without Kobe! What is your point? Yep Kobe has been overhyped into 10+ All NBA & All Defense teams, perennial All Star appearances, 2 Finals MVP awards and 1 regular season MVP award. What about those 80 something points in a game? That must just be hype? Or those 60+ points in 3 Q’S against Dallas, that must just be hype?

  • tavoris

    mvp-I’m all for Devil’s Advocate, but u takin it a lil too far. Kobe’s game (skill-wise) has NO weaknesses. I ain’t even a fan of the dude, and I recognize that the totality of his skill set rivals and/or exceeds EVERY player in NBA history.

  • http://www.slamonline.com AllBall247

    Quoting Jay-Z, is that something to do with your love for Bron? In case you didn’t know Bron and Jay are ‘tight’ as you might say.

  • http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

    I’ll never ever understand the LeBron lovers/Kobe haters or the Kobe lovers/LeBron haters.
    If you can comprehend that one is an immense talent and great player, why can’t you acknowledge the other is as well?
    Is it because your fandom of one is blinding you to the other?
    Sh*t, I’m a huge Derrick Rose fan but you won’t catch me on here going on about how Rondo or Westbrook suck. Cause I know they do their thing too and I ain’t about to hate them for that.
    But with Bron an Kobe, seems like peeps are convinced you can only root for one or the other. And if you root for LeBron, Kobe sucks. And if you root for Kobe, LeBron sucks.
    F*ck that, real recognize real.

  • Mvp23100

    Cp is the what in the league you are out your damn mind Rondo not being able to shoot puts even more emphasis on how skilled he is in other areas Pau is a great passer Just soft as charmin we could run down stats accomplishments and credentials of players all day son is a victim of time and circumstance he’s the dollar store version of mike and at this moment Lebron is better sh*t Wade also and if your an LA fan realistically y’all better pray it’s not an LA MIA finals

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    Co-sign Enigmatic. I like LeBron, I think he’s a beast. I think Kobe’s better career-wise, but that doesn’t mean I have to hate LeBron

  • logues

    we all know jtaylor is a lebron fanatic so thats why he is downplaying kobe. as for me, i never got to see big o play so im not gonna try and pretend that i did and that i know what im talking about.

  • http://www.slamonline.com AllBall247

    You know what Enigmatic, I was like that, but one of my friends loves Bron, so we constantly argue about who’s better.
    Also, you never show CP3 any love, and he is the premier PG in the L.

  • Mvp23100

    If your talking about me homie I’m not a 24 hater the boy got game

  • http://www.slamonline.com AllBall247

    Yeah, CP is the best player in the L. I’ve watched all of the All NBA players multiple (10+) times this year, he is the best, but if we are not going to compare across positions, I would take CP3, Kobe, Bron, KG, Dwight as the best at there position. I said Rondo is very skilled, but he has a major major flaw in his game, his jump shot is a lot worse than Kobe’s defense (which is actually good but you won’t admit that).
    So Pau averages 2 something assists, Kobe averages 3 more than that in the same offense, yet Pau is a great passer and Kobe is below average? Explain that to me.
    Yeah, so Kobe’s accomplishments are all ‘circumstance’. Way to write off a whole career of excellence. Bron isn’t better, neither is Wade, and I am not an LAL fan, but if I was I wouldn’t be too worried about MIA/LAL. Bron always has regular season success. So far what has that got him? 0 finals wins.

  • http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

    I’m talking bout whoever it applies to, dawg.

  • Mvp23100

    It’s all opinion because as much as I like CP the best in the L no sir and your wrong I’d say kobe plays better D than Rondo shoots and it wouldn’t matter If Pau averages no assist that’s not what they need him for but he will hit the open shooter or cutter in the triangle when it counts when I say the word circumstance I’m not talking accomplishments I’m talking about people throwing that MJ comparison either downplaying or overhyping his game to compete with the greatest he’s a victim of circumstance and this is a different year do you see the cavs right now are you surprised Bron didn’t get a ring with that supporting cast

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Sometimes you all make very sad.

  • Scott

    Please elaborate on this. ^^^^^^^^^

  • Anonymous

    People kill me with the “most skilled ever” talk. When someone’s game is aesthetically pleasing its like people are so entranced by how pretty it looks that they don’t want to accept the fact that their favorite player is inefficient. Not all the time but entirely too often to be considered the best/greatest. Cut the ring talk to. Robert Horry has more than Kobe, LeBron, D Wade, Durant, CP3, Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Shaq etc. COMBINED. LONG…LIVE…BIG SHOT BOB!

  • http://slamonline.Com Bryan Crawford

    I wish Mvp knew how to use punctuations properly.

  • http://www.slamonline.com AllBall247

    Ofcourse its opinion, although CP more than has the stats to back it up. Well we agree on that then, but as Kobe has double figure All Defense appearances & Rondo is poor % from deep it should be a given. The Lakers don’t ‘need’ Kobe to get assists, he’s a scorer first, the reason he’s on this list, yet he still gets 5 a game.
    You are right, people do overhype or down play him in accordance with how they feel he shapes up with Mike. As I am in my early (very early) 20′s and didn’t start watching NBA full time until the 2nd of LA’s 3peat years, all I can say is Kobe is by far the best player of my time, 2001 onwards.
    Yeah the Cavs are being found out as pretenders right now, but after they beat the Lakeshow last xmas people were proclaiming them future champs. Sounds pretty familiar.
    Co sign BC, I am getting out of breath reading your comments.

  • http://psp2423@yahoo.com Eboy

    Im Here!!! Me being reasonable now I would say that Kobe is a better player than The Big O. The Big O played in the time when anyone would be able to play ball and you didnt have to be athletic or know the simple fundamentals that we know of basketball today. If Kobe were to play in the 60s era I think he would be able to average a triple double is whole career. But the Big O is a greater play do to his impact in the game. Bottom Line Kobes better but the Big O is greater.

  • http://slamonline.Com Bryan Crawford

    If the Big O played in the NBA today, would he be in black & white?
    And if Kobe played in the 60′s, he’d have the best shoes. They would also be unaffordable.

  • monkeyball

    Oscar was a dominating player. The best guard of his time, along with West. But Oscar is overrated, and the reason can be summed up in two words: “triple” and “double.” If he had averaged 30, 9, and 9 for five seasons, instead of 30, 10, and 10, he wouldn’t be in any top-ten greatest players list. Why? Because he didn’t win anything. He won a ring, but he did it as a second fiddle, like Clyde Drexler and David Robinson, and Kobe in 00, 01, and 02. Oscar is an all-time great, a “pantheon” guy, like Bill Simmons says, but not top 10. and Kobe is top 10, on individual accomplishments and team success. I’ll still take either MJ (Mike or Magic) over Kobe, even if he retires with 9 rings.

  • Anonymous

    The fact that Russell has 11 and MJ has six and few people mention them as equals should be enough to prove to people that no matter how much you looooove Kobe HE WILL NEVER BE CONSIDERED ON MICHAEL JORDANS LEVEL. EVER.

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    Co-sign Monkeyball, other than the fact you think Big O doesn’t belong in the top 10

  • http://twitter.com/smileyoufckers Bryan

    I do not think that is the real Eboy.

  • Anonymous

    No matter how many rings he finishes with. And anyone who says he’s by far the best of this generation Shaq and Timmy would like a word with you. Most aesthetically pleasing game? Maybe. Most accomplished? Yes even though he does not deserve more all league defensive honors than Pippen. Best right now? Phuck no. Fin…

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    me neither, bryan

  • JTaylor21

    Don’t you just love how Kobe fans are always crying about him getting no respect then they turnaround and disrespect what the Big O accomplished. Some fool had the nerve to say that he wouldn’t even last a season in today’s NBA. Let me guess the same way Wilt would just be “another” center today, the same way JWest would get shredded today and the same morons probabaly think that Russell would be “lucky” to make a d-league team. Talk about disrespecting past greats just to big up their man. Also if people think that KB having more rings than the Big O makes him the better player, well in that case; John Havlicek is better than him and so is Sam Jones.

  • http://twitter.com/smileyoufckers Bryan

    Oscar would be a good player, not an all timer.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    None of you were alive when oscar played. Furthermore you all have no idea how skilled and tenacious he was. He DOMINATED cats like Jerry West and with toe to toe with all of the all time greats and was considered. The best individual player. None of you realize there were only eight teams total in the league and oscar’s was not in the top echelon of talent. He didn’t barely get ten assists. By today’s standards he would have averaged lime 15+. Did you know you only got an assist if the.man immediately shot with no dribbles or other moves. Think about how many current assists would be disallowed under rose rules. And docking oscar for only getting one.ring.as kareem’s sidekick means.admitting that Kobe only has two real rings and.one of rose came against a weak orlando team.
    Y’all need to actually read up on oscar and his impact.

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    hey don’t get on me, I said Oscar was a more complete player than Kobe

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    What the he’ll is this “oscar would be good not great deal”?
    H
    What is that based on? Would he not have the benefit of better training, weaker competition better equipment and a rich history of innovation to pattern his game after? Or are we saying he has to be the exact player he was in his era while Kobe gets the extra advantage of watching what all those greats did and improving on it?
    The lack of critical thinking here is staggering.

  • JTaylor21

    Oscar would be a good player not an all-time great, WHAT? Well in that case; Kobe would be a good player not an all-time great if he had played in the 60s. See how dumb a statement like that sounds.

  • http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

    Either AllenP is typing on his iPhone again (as am I) or Scooby Doo is commenting as him (“rose rules”)

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