According to the Chicago Sun-Times' Seth Gruen, Jordan urged Bryant to "Go get Karl [Malone]," who occupies second place with 36,928 points scored over the course of a 19-year career.
Bryant told reporters that he was appreciative of Jordan and other legendary scoring greats for leading by example, per Gruen:
It was more of a thankful feeling to Michael and the players who came before because I’ve learned so much from them. And I don’t say that lightly. I’ve literally just stole [expletive] from them, like spin moves and pull-ups. It’s not me passing these players. It’s us. I’ve literally taken things from their games and made them my own.
As things stand, Bryant is 4,563 points behind Malone. And with his contract running through the end of the 2015-16 season, Kobe would need to score obscene amounts before his deal expires. For some context, Bryant set a career high by scoring 2,832 points during the 2005-06 season and has crossed the 2,000-point threshold for a single season eight times during his career.
However, only three (2008-09, 2010-11 and 2012-13) of those eight times have come since Bryant turned 30.
Additionally, Bryant may be sidelined for more than a week with general soreness, which will delay his run up the charts, according to Bleacher Report's Kevin Ding:
"I didn’t think I’d be shooting like s**t," Bryant said, according to Ding.
Although he's averaging 24.6 points on 22.4 shots a night, Bryant's knocking down a career-worst 37.2 percent of his total field-goal attempts while converting a meager 27.4 percent of his threes, his worst rate (minimum 20 appearances) since 1998-99.
