Kobe Bryant Passes Shaquille O'Neal On NBA All-Time Scoring List (VIDEO)

In the second quarter of the Lakers-Sixers game on Monday night, Kobe Bryant was positioned on the wing. He cut back toward the top of the key, running his defender at a screen set by Derek Fisher. The defender went beneath the Fisher screen and then found his path back to Bryant, who was receiving a pass from Matt Barnes, impeded by Pau Gasol. Catch. Shoot. And then the defender got back in the frame. Kobe has scored on this type of play with countless defenders and a rotating cast of teammates. It will surely happen many times again. If the Lakers are playing as you read then it very well could be happening .. right.. NOW.

But that shot will likely be remembered by Bryant longer than many of the other similar ones. With those two points, Bryant reached yet another milestone in his illustrious NBA career, passing former teammate (and rival) Shaquille O'Neal in the all-time scoring rankings. Bryant now ranks as the fifth all-time scorer in league history, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Shaq, who often clashed with Bryant even when the two won three straight NBA championships with the Lakers, congratulated his former teammate on Twitter right after he was passed on the list.

@SHAQ
SHAQ

Congrats to Kobe for being the greatest laker ever thanks for making us the greatest laker one two punch ever and congrats on passin me up 2

February 7, 2012 2:15 am via Twitter for iPhone Reply Retweet Favorite

While Bryant seemed genuine when saying that he believed that he was "very fortunate" to have the career he has had thus far, he remains more focused on adding to his impressive resume than appreciating it.

"I just want No. 6, man," he told the Los Angeles Times. "I'm not asking too much. Just get me a sixth one."

Comments

[jflorish]

07:45 PM on 02/09/2012

That Jabbar video is also good, that guy was the most skilled big man ever, that hook shot was just unstoppable.

[therealone]

03:41 AM on 02/09/2012

Michael Jordan had Bill Wennington and Luc Longley. Kobe Bryant rode Shaquille O'Neal and Pau Gasol.

[duckzilla]

05:53 PM on 02/09/2012

so u gunna totally forget to mention jordan had pippen and rodman on his squad just to help prove your argument , huh?

[jflorish]

07:44 PM on 02/09/2012

You can't point out facts, just go with he skewed view so he can make it look in his favor :)

[IndependentAndProud]

05:26 AM on 02/10/2012

Weak. Very weak.

[bmwracer]

11:46 PM on 02/08/2012

It would've been much nicer had they won the game.

Lakers are wretchedly bad on the road.

[IndependentAndProud]

05:28 AM on 02/10/2012

It's definitely a down year for the Lakers so far, but not surprising. However, tonight they did once again beat the Celtics in Boston. Sweeeeeeet.