Kobe Bryant: Black Mamba Slithers Past Shaquille O'Neal in Annals of NBA History
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal may have had differences of opinion while on the Los Angeles Lakers together, but there's one thing they can't debate: Bryant has now surpassed O'Neal for fifth place on the NBA all-time scoring list.
Bryant, who needed 24 points to pass O'Neal on Monday against the Philadelphia 76ers, scored 24 points in the first half alone.
It was only fitting that Bryant would reach such a landmark in the town where he was born. It was also the town where he played high school ball before joining the Lakers as the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft.
Bryant's feat on Monday means he's the greatest scorer since Michael Jordan and Karl Malone. When looking at his achievements throughout the years, which include five championships, he's without a question the second-best shooting guard of all time and may only be rivaled by Jordan when discussing the greatest player of all time.
When comparing Bryant to Jordan throughout the years, we've talked about all the ways he isn't Michael Jordan. What we haven't realized is that we've been comparing him to Jordan because he's indeed in the same company as His Airness.
Who knows if anyone will ever take the GOAT title from Jordan, but in Bryant we may have seen the player who comes the closest—that's an accomplishment in itself.
As for Bryant and O'Neal, Bryant surpassed O'Neal the second he won his fifth title in 2010. While O'Neal was the top dog when they played together, Bryant became the top dog when O'Neal left town.
There will always be questions about whether Bryant shoots too much or doesn't involve his teammates enough. For a guy who has averaged nearly 20 shots per game in his career, those questions will never truly go away.
What we can say is that Bryant has done an awful lot with those shot opportunities, shooting over 45 percent in his career as an off guard.
When all is said and done, perhaps the greatest achievement in Kobe's career will be that he came within range of being called the greatest player of all time.
