Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant was once on track to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s record for most points in NBA history. Although injuries slowed down his trajectory, Kobe once revealed it wasn’t his goal to surpass the Lakers icon.
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In an interview with GQ in 2015, Bryant claimed he could have left the Lakers early in his career to chase the record but sacrificed it for a bigger purpose.
“I chose to extend my deal with the Lakers to play with Shaquille O’ Neal and win championships. I knew what I could have done individually. I could have gone to another team and averaged 35 points a game. I could have gone anywhere and destroyed people. I gave that up to win championships.”
Bryant added that he could easily drag his career for a few more years and break the record. But he had already achieved his goal and had no intention to chase Kareem.
“If my goal had been going after Jabbar, I would have done that. I would have gone to a different team and scored 37 points a game. But that was never my goal. My goal is to sit at the table with Michael [Jordan] and Magic [Johnson], having won the same number of titles.”
Becoming the all-time leader in points would have been an incredible achievement for Bryant. However, he was always more concerned with adding titles and Finals MVP honors to his resume. Equaling or even beating Michael Jordan‘s record of six championships and six NBA Finals MVPs would have put Bryant ahead of his idol in the GOAT debate. That was his solitary focus. Once he knew it was unattainable, he decided to leave the sport and passed on the opportunity to break the all-time scoring record.
Kobe Bryant’s scoring prowess
After the Lakers traded Shaquille O’Neal to the Miami Heat and gave Kobe Bryant the keys to the castle, he was unleashed as a scorer. He won back-to-back scoring titles in his second and third seasons without his former teammate. He continued to be an elite scorer until an Achilles tendon tear in April 2013 robbed him of his agility and explosiveness.
After Bryant finished his career with a 60-point masterclass against the Utah Jazz in the Lakers’ final game of the 2015-16 season, he was third all-time in points with 33,634. He trailed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Karl Malone (36,928). On January 25th, 2020, LeBron James surpassed Kobe Bryant’s mark in the Lakers legend’s hometown of Philadelphia.
Bryant congratulated James on breaking his record on X, formerly called Twitter, writing,
“Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames. Much respect my brother #33644.”
Tragically, it would be the last thing Bryant would post on social media. A day later, he passed away in a helicopter accident.
James has since passed Malone and Kareem and become the NBA’s all-time leading points scorer. He’ll soon become the first player to score 40,000 points in the regular season. Bryant remains fourth on the all-time points scorers list and will be there for a few years at least. Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant is the closest active player to Bryant’s number. However, he’s over 5,000 points behind the Lakers great.
Bryant was a legendary scorer, but he never wanted to be limited to that. He wanted to cement his legacy as one of the best players in history, and he achieved that while scoring a jaw-dropping number of points.
