Kobe's career wil be defined by titles. On the night he passed Shaq as the NBA's fifth-leading scorer, he remained focused on No. 6.
The Philadelphia 76ers' highlight video that plays on the big screen at the Wells Fargo Center before tipoff is a triumph of editing and presentation.
Lou Williams dunks and it cuts to Charles Barkley grabbing a rebound. Evan Turner shoots and it splices to Julius Erving driving the lane. Andre Iguodala passes one second; the next Bobby Jones takes it to the hoop. Allen Iverson crosses over Michael Jordan, then Jrue Holiday finishes a layup over LeBron James.
The seamless marriage between the game's historical greats coupled with the crop of today's talent is a perfect summation of where Kobe Bryant's career is at this point:
He has one foot held firm in the record books as a legend of the game and the other standing pat as one of the best now. Today. This season.
Bryant was reminded of the duality Monday during the Los Angeles Lakers' 95-90 loss to the Sixers.
The history was there: Bryant scored 24 of his 28 points in the first half, passing Shaquille O'Neal for fifth place on the NBA's all-time scoring list by bringing his career total to 28,601 points. And so was the present: the Lakers "old and slow" team, as their star power, Bryant, 33, recently called them, had four starters over the age of 30 against a Sixers starting five with an average age younger than 24.
Bryant is the NBA's Mick Jagger, still the best rock 'n' roll show around. As trite as it might sound, he continues to churn 16 years into a surefire, first ballot Hall of Fame career because he simply can't get no satisfaction.
Bryant's stock answer when asked about passing O'Neal and joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain as one of the five most lethal scorers ever to pick up a basketball?
"To say it's a huge honor would be an understatement," Bryant said. "It's a lot of basketball. I've been very, very fortunate to have such a good career."
Bryant's real answer, later in his postgame media session, after the subject of passing Shaq was revisited and the prospect of eclipsing Kareem was floated?
"I just want No. 6, man," Bryant said. "I'm not asking for too much, man. Just give me a sixth ring, damn it."
That's what it all boils down to: a man and his ambition.
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SOURCE: ESPN
Dave McMenamin
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