Despite their past differences, Kobe and Shaq will forever be linked. Here’s one more reason: Kobe just leaped Shaq to become the 5th leading scorer in NBA history. He’s still roughly 10,000 points behind the leader, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but we’ll see if he can eventually make a run at that. Granted this is his 16th season, but he’s only 33 years old. Even though he has a ton of NBA miles on his motor, he’s still the best player in the League for my money and has plenty left in the tank.
Either way, when it’s all said and done for Kobe (regardless of if he passes Kareem) I think both LeBron and Kevin Durant will end up with more career points than him. Yes, Kobe came straight out of high school, but it wasn’t until his fourth season where he began averaging more than 20ppg. Conversely, neither LeBron (straight from HS) nor KD (who only played one year of college ball) have ever averaged less than 20 ppg in their respective careers so they have a big head start on Kobe.
Ironically, Kobe passed Shaq last night in his native Philadelphia (not that they care about what he does). Here’s the bucket that did it:
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook
