Kobe Bryant No.3 on NBA All-Time Scoring List: Will he reach No.2?

Courtesy of NBA.com

On December 14 during a road game versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, Kobe Bryant made a pair of free throws to give him 32,293 career points, moving past Michael Jordan to place him 3rd on the NBA All-time scoring list trailing only Karl Malone ( 2nd ) 36,928 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ( No.1) with 38,387 points.

In a brief ceremonious event, Kobe was congratulated by players from both the Lakers and Timberwolves. He was awarded the game ball and appeared to be very humble and thankful for the recognition.

The attention leading up to this moment has been covered extensively by major sports media outlets, and while Kobe is considered one of the greatest players in the current era, the Lakers have been on a downslope for the past few seasons and are among the worst teams in the Western Conference, however, an overtime win versus the Spurs has helped raised the confidence of the team.

Ironically, Kobe has surpassed the one player he patterned most of his game, style, and competitive nature after– (Michael Jordan), a player whose name continues to resonate with NBA stars and aspiring basketball players around the world. The only question left for Kobe is whether he can stay healthy long enough to chase the No.2 spot on the NBA All-time scoring list.

Laker fans, let’s tip our hats to the Timberwolves fans for giving Kobe a great standing ovation!

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) December 15, 2014

If healthy, Kobe is capable of scoring close to, if not more than 2,000 points per season, and he should be en route to finishing the season with well over 33,000 points. Meaning he would have to play at least 2-3 more seasons to even come close to surpassing Karl Malone, but were talking about a player with more than enough competitive juice to reach such a goal, therefore, its totally not out of the question.

A sixth NBA title has also eluded Kobe as he joins Tim Duncan on the chase to win another ring — tieing Jordan.

It takes a special type of player to surpass Michael Jordan on the All-time scoring list, and who better than Kobe Bryant.  We’re speaking of a player who has worked hard his entire career to win at the highest level possible.  There may not be a ton a positive talk about the Lakers as a whole, but when its all said and done, Kobe Bryant will be among the top-5 NBA greatest players of All-time.

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