Kobe Bryant Passes Michael Jordan on NBA’s All-Time Scoring List

Kobe Bryant is better than Michael Jordan—at least as far as the NBA's all-time scoring list is concerned.

The Los Angeles Lakers star passed His Airness to move into third place in career scoring, reaching his 32,293rd point in the second quarter of Sunday's game against Minnesota.  



After LA's 100-94 win, Bryant talked about the feat via Serena Winters of Lakers Nation:

Bryant's passing of Jordan has been an inevitability for years, though health issues got in the way. The 36-year-old All-Star missed all but six games in 2013-14, first recovering from a torn Achilles and then suffering a season-ending knee injury.

But fully healthy for the first time in nearly two whole years, Bryant has defied age as his Lakers have sunk to the bottom of the Western Conference. Bryant came into Sunday night averaging 25.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists, stats that would arguably give him the best line of any player at or close to his age.

Those points, however, have come at a cost. Bryant is shooting a career-low 42.1 percent, his usage rate is on pace to be one of the highest in league history and the Lakers have floundered thanks to a roster bereft of elite talent.



The few shining moments for fans at the Staples Center this season have largely revolved around Bryant's assault on the record books. He's already set the NBA record for most missed field goals, passing Boston Celtics Hall of Famer John Havlicek's 13,417 misses, but on a more positive note, he became the first in history to reach 30,000 points and 6,000 assists. 

Lofty accomplishments as they may be, they pale in comparison to passing Jordan. Bryant and Jordan are forever joined at the hip as the former's rise coincided with the greatest of all time stepping away from the limelight.

Magic Johnson summed it up nicely in this tweet congratulating Bryant:



Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers