Bryant passes Shaq on NBA scoring list
Comments (...)PHILADELPHIA (MCT) — Kobe Bryant understands that a player’s NBA clock doesn’t run forever, so at the age of 33 and in his 16th NBA season, the former Lower Merion (Pa.) High star seems to be savoring each and every experience.
And whether it’s achieving a new milestone, returning to Philadelphia, or doing both — as he did Monday night — Bryant doesn’t take anything for granted these days.
Of course, the main goal of the evening eluded him.
The Sixers spoiled Bryant’s homecoming by overcoming a seven-point deficit with less than five minutes remaining during Monday night’s 95-90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at the charged-up Wells Fargo Center.
Bryant entered Monday’s game needing 24 points to pass Shaquille O’Neal for fifth place on the all-time NBA scoring list. He finished with 28 points, but managed only four after halftime. In the fourth quarter, Bryant shot 1 for 10.
O’Neal had 28,596 points and Bryant now has 28,601.
“To say it is an honor would be an understatement,” Bryant said about passing his former teammate. “That is a lot of basketball. I have been very fortunate.”
Yet Bryant concedes that the record was bittersweet, coming in a loss, dropping the Lakers to 14-11 overall and 3-9 on the road.
“This is a game we really wanted to get, and we fell short,” he said.
Bryant had talked during the morning shootaround about how special it would be to surpass O’Neal in Philadelphia. And then he didn’t wait very long to make it happen.
Bryant’s long jumper just inside the three-point line with 5 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in the second quarter gave him the 24 points he needed to surpass O’Neal.
In the second half, the Sixers paid more attention to Bryant, sending a second defender at him virtually each time he had the ball. Both Bryant and the Lakers ran out of gas.
When asked what the Sixers did differently in the second half, Bryant laughed.
“They ran traps when I crossed half-court,” he said.
Bryant, who played 43 minutes, 53 seconds, including all 24 minutes in the second half, was patient in the third quarter, taking just two shots. He was more than willing to find open teammates.
The fourth quarter was a different story. Neither Bryant nor his team had enough to hold off the Sixers and especially Lou Williams, who scored 14 in the final quarter.
“We weren’t able to capitalize on things, and Williams came off the bench and was tremendous,” Bryant said.
The Lakers play here only once a year, and Bryant accepts the fact that he is past middle age in NBA years.
“I think the older I get, the more I appreciate coming back here playing,” he said after Monday’s shootaround. “ ... I don’t know how many more times I will be playing in front of Philadelphia fans at this stage of my career, so it means a little more.”
But don’t think Bryant is getting sentimental. When asked whether he was ready to apologize for his graphic prediction in 2001, when he stated in no uncertain terms that the Lakers would beat the Sixers in the NBA Finals, Bryant showed some of his old fire.
“I am not apologizing for saying I am going to come kick some - - -,” he said. “I am not going to do it.”
When asked his opinion on the Sixers, Bryant was his usual candid self.
“You can’t measure them against us — that is for damn sure,” he said. “ ... They looked pretty good to me.”
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