Kobe Bryant Must Steal Scoring Title from Kevin Durant to Boost Legacy

Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant are locked into a head-to-head battle for the scoring crown.

In a week that has been dominated by headlines involving the Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder and flying elbows, Bryant and Durant are engaged in an epic showdown for the crown.

There are so many things that make this story a good one, but the most obvious has to be the different stages where each superstar is in his respective career.

Bryant, 33 years old, and in his 16th season in the league, is going against Durant, just 23, in his fifth season in the NBA.

Each player has won the title two times: Bryant won it in back-to-back seasons from 2005-07, while Durant has earned the honor in each of the last two seasons.

What an accomplishment it would be for Bryant to win the honor for the third time in his career.

While there's no question the Black Mamba is after more important hardware to add to his collection, many discounted Bryant's ability to stay healthy for the duration of a lockout-shortened season coming off of the "mysterious" offseason knee surgery he had in Germany.

That's looking pretty foolish right about now.

Both men have just one game remaining in the regular season. Durant (28.0 points) leads Bryant (27.9 points) by the slimmest of margins.

But those numbers aren't exact.

Thanks to Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman, we know exactly what needs to happen for Bryant to emerge with the award.

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The actual averages are 27.97 points for Durant to Bryant's 27.86 points.

But if Durant scores less than 30, Bryant will have to top Durant’s output by at least seven points. If Durant posts more than 30, Bryant must outscore Durant by at least six. The necessary differential would narrow more the more each player scores. The discrepancy is caused by Bryant playing seven fewer games. The scoring title is determined by scoring average.

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We know that Bryant will be without Metta World Peace (suspension), and it's looking rather unlikely that James Harden (concussion) will be on the floor.

What does it mean? Neither team is jockeying for a postseason position. Oklahoma City is locked into the No. 2 seed, while Los Angeles has secured third in the Western Conference standings.

So what is the motivation?

Both players can dance around the question all they want and claim that individual awards don't matter, but they do.

There is no doubt that each will be looking to outdo the other. That is what big-time players do when there is something at stake.

Durant should compete for every single scoring title for the next decade. Kobe can't say that.

Bryant doesn't have a lengthy career in front of him. No, he's not hanging 'em up after the season, but he's at a very different stage of his career from Durant.

Bryant's legacy is impressive, but a third scoring title adds to an already top-notch resume.

It would let everyone know that this is still his league. Bryant is all about sending a message without using his words, and winning the scoring title would be part one of a two-part statement.

His follow-up message? A sixth ring. That's what Bryant wants most.

A scoring title would be a good stepping stone for Bryant's ultimate pursuit, but it wouldn't satisfy him completely. Not in the slightest.

Bryant has a psychotic work ethic that simply isn't emulated by his peers.

Adding another scoring title before embarking on the road to the NBA Finals would let everybody know that Bryant's still here, and he should still be feared.

You don't just get that Black Mamba nickname for nothing.