When Kobe Bryant his a jump shot with 1:45 remaining Friday night to pull the Los Angeles Lakers within four points of Chicago, it also vaulted Kobe past an NBA legend. Bryant ended the game with 23 points, giving him 26,398 points in his career. He passed Celtics' legend John Havlicek for 11th place on the all-time NBA scoring list.
| NBA All-Time Scoring List | ||
| Rank | Player | Points |
| 1 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar |
38,387 |
| 2 | Karl Malone | 36,928 |
| 3 | Michael Jordan | 32,292 |
| 4 | Wilt Chamberlain | 31,419 |
| 5 | Shaquille O'Neal | 28,434 |
| 6 | Moses Malone | 27,409 |
| 7 | Elvin Hayes | 27,313 |
| 8 | Hakeem Olajuwon | 26,946 |
| 9 | Oscar Robertson | 26,710 |
| 10 | Dominique Wilkins | 26,668 |
| 11 | Kobe Bryant | 26,398 |
| 12 | John Havlicek | 26,395 |
Next up for Kobe is the Human Highlight Film, Dominique Wilkins, who is 270 points ahead of Bryant, in 10th place on the all-time NBA scoring list. Bryant is second in the league this season averaging 26.4 points per game, and could end up as high as sixth place on the all-time list at the end of the season. In fact, should Bryant keep up his scoring average, he would pass Moses Malone in 39 games.
Bryant has scored 20 points or more in each of his last 16 games, and 22 of 23 games this season. The Lakers continue their road trip with a Sunday morning affair at Prudential Center against the New Jersey Nets.
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