Back on Dec. 14, 2014, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant made NBA history in a game on the road against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Throughout his entire career in the NBA, Bryant was always chasing one of his mentors or “muses” as he called them. Kobe was constantly striving to match and surpass Michael Jordan in many different areas including championships and scoring milestones.
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Although Bryant was never able to get to the elusive six titles while playing for the Lakers, Kobe did end up passing Jordan on the NBA’s All-Time Scoring List in his second-to-last season in the league.
Bryant’s scoring milestone came in the second quarter at the free-throw line against the Timberwolves, via NBA.com:
Ultimately, when Bryant’s playing career came to an end in an incredible 60-point performance against the Utah Jazz last April, the future Hall of Famer ended up with 33,643 points, ranking third overall.
Along with passing his idol on the scoring list, Nike honored Bryant for the milestone with a new shoe, via Nike:
Nike celebrates Bryant’s new honor as the NBA’s third all-time leading scorer with the limited-edition release of the NIKEiD KOBE 9 Elite Low “Mamba Moment” shoe.
Unfortunately, Bryant’s point total when it was all said and done was short of matching or surpassing his former teammate Karl Malone. The Jazz legend, and former Laker, was still 3,285 points ahead of Bryant once the Lakers icon decided to walk away from the game.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, however, still sits comfortably atop the NBA’s All-Time Scoring List with 38,387 points. Dirk Nowitzki (No. 6, 29,552) and LeBron James (No. 9, 27,359) are the only active players anywhere near Kobe and company on the list.