Kobe Bryant: Top 5 moments with the Los Angeles Lakers

#3 Scoring Records

As previously mentioned, at the time of his retirement, Kobe Bryant finished as the third-highest scorer of all time. So two iconic moments in Kobe’s career will be tied up into one entry. The first being Kobe becoming the highest-scoring Lakers of all-time.

In a game against the Memphis Grizzlies at the end of a tough road trip, the Lakers found themselves down by 11 points in the second quarter, Kobe dug deep and willed the team back. Scoring all 13 of the Lakers final points of the quarter by himself giving himself 23 in the half. Later in the game, he would break Jerry West’s record of 25,192 career points. This is quite the accomplishment when taking into account some of the greats that have worn the purple and gold.

The second moment is when Kobe became the third-highest scorer in NBA history and who he had to surpass to get that title. That man was Michael Jordan. Many have compared the two and it is impossible to say that they are not similar, from their styles of play, their signature moves, and even their demeanor Kobe is the closest thing we will ever get to Michael Jordan in the league again.

He was also an idol to Kobe and someone that he admittedly modeled his game after. It was revealed at his funeral that Kobe would blow up his phone at all hours of the night asking him for advice on how to dominate the league in a way that similar to Jordan. So when Kobe passed his idol in scoring it was a career-defining moment for him.