As the Los Angeles Lakers have been less than stellar as a team this season, many people’s attention have focused on Kobe Bryant and his pursuit of the NBA’s all-time scoring title. A record held by Laker great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who scored 38,387 points in his illustrious 20 year career.
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Kobe currently stands at 32,165 points, only 127 points behind the great Michael Jordan for third all-time. Kobe is set to pass Jordan in only a few more games, but according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, Kobe cares nothing about that record:
Bryant doesn’t want to talk about passing Michael Jordan on the career scoring list later this month, and scrunches his face when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record is mentioned. “I don’t even know how many points he has,” Bryant said. “I don’t even care.”
Many assume that the scoring record is what is motivating Kobe this year, but Kobe insists that he loves the process and the work, not records:
The process of how I got here moves me,” Bryant told Yahoo. “Never the accolades. It’s the years that I’ve put in, the work. That’s the thing now for me: the work. Every year I play, it’s about winning championships. That’s what I’m supposed to do. What else am I supposed to do? Not about this guy has that, that guy has that. …This is my job.”
Kobe is simultaneously one of the most loved, and most hated players in the NBA. Many believe he is simply chasing the record because he knows his team isn’t a championship contender, so the record is what is motivating him, but that is simply not the case.
Kobe relishes the process, not only for himself, but for the team. He is focused on getting this team back to championship contention and will do whatever it takes to make that a reality.
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