Kobe Bryant now NBA’s 5th all time leading scorer passing Shaq

Kobe Bryant is now the 5th all time scorer in the NBA. He past his former teammate Shaquille O’Neal who just retired this season.

Bryant moved into fifth place was a long two pointer in the 2nd quarter with 5:08 left in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Coming into the 76ers game Bryant needed 24 points and he got all of that in the 1st half. Bryant went on too only score 4 points in the 2nd half and the Lakers lost to the 76ers 95-90. Philadelphia is where Bryant played his college basketball so it is really special for him to do this there.

Bryant now has 28,567 career points he is now behind Wilt Chamberlain (31,419), Michael Jordan (32,292), Karl Malone (36,928) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387). Bryant is currently 33 years old and if he can stay healthy which is a big question he will have a chance to the NBA all time leading scorer. He will pass Chamberlain and Jordan for sure but the other two we shall see.

Bryant is about 10,000 behind Kareem. So basically he would have to play about five more seasons and play most of those games. He would have to average about somewhere between 21 and 24 points per game depending on how he finishes this season. He is averaging 29.4 points per game this season.

Bryant’s thoughts after the game he could care less about the points he wants one more ring.

“To say it’s a huge honor would be an understatement,” Bryant said after the game. “It’s a lot of basketball. I’ve been very, very fortunate to have such a good career.”

“I just want No. 6, man, referring to his championship count, when asked where he wanted to finish on the all-time scoring list when he retires. “I’m not asking for too much, man. Just give me a sixth ring, damn it.”

“It’s a tremendous honor. “There’s a lot of work that you put in to get to this point. To be in (the top) five category with them, it’s special.”

Shaq tweeted this after the game.

Congrats to Kobe for being the greatest laker ever thanks for making us the greatest laker one two punch ever and congrats on passin me up 2

“I appreciate it,” Bryant said. “I’m sure Shaq and I will connect at some point and revisit history. But, it’s fun. We had some good times, man. We had some good times. So thank you is what I have to say (to O’Neal).”

It has been no secret that Bryant and Shaq have their differences both its good to see Shaq giving Bryant props for passing him.

Bryant now has more points than Shaq he also already holds the bragging right over number of rings 5 to 4.

Bryant is not done building his legacy when he is done we can debate his place in history.  Who knows by then he might be the NBA’s all time leading scorer.

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Tags: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers