One of the best moments of the Los Angeles Lakers’ season so far came a couple of weeks ago when Kobe Bryant passed Michael Jordan to become the NBA’s third all-time leading scorer.
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This milestone sparked a number of comparisons between the two legends over who was really the better player. Kobe and Jordan, however, are good friends and Jordan had a message for Kobe according to the Chicago Sun-Times:
Go get Karl [Malone],” he said of former Jazz great Karl Malone, who ranks second all-time with 36,928 points.
Bryant expounded on the feeling of passing Jordan and joining all of the greats whom he grew up idolizing:
It was more of a thankful feeling to Michael and the players who came before because I’ve learned so much from them,” Bryant said. “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.”
Many Jordan fans and Kobe detractors have always maintained that Kobe stole all of his moves from Jordan, and though Kobe never denied that he took from Jordan, he always added that he took moves from numerous NBA legends.
Passing Malone to move into second on the all-time list will be a difficult task as Kobe is currently 4,563 points behind. In other words, it would take two more full seasons after this year to get to that level.
With Kobe’s body already struggling with fatigue and most believing he won’t play past next year, it seems unlikely that Kobe will be able to make good on Jordan’s message.
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