The Los Angeles Lakers are in San Antonio today to face the Spurs, holders of the best record in the NBA at 51-11. The Lakers have been playing well since the All-Star break, winning all six of their games, but are looking for their first win over San Antonio this season. They will need a big game from Kobe Bryant to beat the Spurs, and Kobe is closing in on another milestone himself. Bryant is 38 points shy of Moses Malone for sixth place on the NBA all-time scoring list.
Bryant began the season in 12th place on the all-time list, but has passed four legends this season. Kobe passed former Celtic John Havlicek on December 10, passed Dominique Wilkins on January 4, passed Oscar Robertson on January 7, passed Hakeem Olajuwon on January 28, and passed Elvin Hayes on February 27:
NBA All-Time Scoring List | |||
Rank | Player | Points | Avg |
1 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 38,387 | 24.6 |
2 | Karl Malone | 36,928 | 25.0 |
3 | Michael Jordan | 32,292 | 30.12 |
4 | Wilt Chamberlain | 31,419 | 30.07 |
5 | Shaquille O'Neal | 28,590 | 23.7 |
6 | Moses Malone | 27,409 | 20.6 |
7 | Kobe Bryant | 27,371 | 25.3 |
8 | Elvin Hayes | 27,313 | 21.0 |
9 | Hakeem Olajuwon | 26,946 | 21.8 |
10 | Oscar Robertson | 26,710 | 25.7 |
11 | Dominique Wilkins |
26,668 | 24.8 |
12 | John Havlicek |
26,395 | 20.8 |
Malone played the final season of his great career with the Spurs, in 1994-1995. The 39-year old averaged 2.9 points and 2.7 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per game in 17 games that season. Bryant has scored a total of 37 points in two games against the Spurs this season, and he made a total of 13 of 45 field goal attempts (28.9%).
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