LeBron James Passes Kobe Bryant As The NBA's Third All-Time Leading Scorer
With 7 minutes and 22 seconds left in the third quarter of a game against Philadelphia on Saturday, James scored his 33,644th point, passing Kobe Bryant for third on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
It happened after James made a layup. The 76ers took a timeout to honor the moment. James high-fived his teammates and waved at the crowd at Wells Fargo Center, as they gave him a standing ovation.
James entered Saturday's game 18 points shy of passing Bryant's 33,643 points. James scored 14 points in the first half on three-for-seven shooting, making eight of his 10 free throws.
James now is only behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points) and Karl Malone (36,928 points).
James, 35, is playing remarkable basketball in his 17th season in the league, averaging 25.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and a league-leading 10.8 assists. Behind James, the Lakers have the best record in the Western Conference at 36-9 and the best road record in the league at 20-4.
Bryant, who led the Lakers to five NBA championships, retired in 2016 after 20 seasons with the same team.
James and Bryant have shown each other a lot of mutual admiration over the years.
And on Saturday, James had the words "Mamba 4 life," written on his sneakers with the numbers eight and 24, Bryant's jersey numbers.
