Kobe Bryant: Passing Rival Shaq on NBA Scoring List Latest Sign of Royalty

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant entered Monday night needing 24 points against the Philadelphia 76ers to pass Shaquille O'Neal for fifth place on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

Kobe didn't waste any time. He got his 24th point of the game in the second quarter, thus passing his old friend-turned-archrival.

The NBA was kind enough to mark the occasion on Twitter:

Up next for Kobe is Wilt Chamberlain, who ended his career with 31,419 points. After him is Michael Jordan, who ended his career with 32,292 points.

All in good time, one supposes. Kobe is not as young as he once was, but he's no geezer; he's got a couple of good years left in him.

For now, all that really matters is that Kobe has passed Shaq. Without context, this would be a big enough deal. With context, it's an even bigger deal.

It's no secret that Kobe and Shaq had a falling out when they were both with the Lakers several years ago. Kobe got fed up with Shaq, Shaq got fed up with Kobe, and before long we had the whole "couldn't do it without me" rap debacle.

Well, Kobe proved Shaq wrong by winning two titles on his own in 2009 and 2010, and now here he is looking down on Shaq on the NBA's all-time scoring list, a kind of unofficial barometer of career success.

What say you now, Shaq?

I have no doubt we'll hear from the big fella eventually. My guess is he'll be humble without being too humble. He's not going to let Kobe have his moment in the sun without giving him at least a little ribbing.

At the end of the day, though, even Shaq has to realize that Kobe's latest accomplishment is just another exclamation point in a career that has seen quite a few of them. He already is one of the NBA's all-time greats.

All he's doing at this point is padding his legacy.