Monday, December 17, 2012

J-Speaks: Kobe Bryant Reaches A Historic Milestone

From the moment he came into the NBA back in 1997 Kobe Bryant has had a flair for greatness. A will to get better everyday and a relentless determination to get the job done. As a result he has made multiple all-star teams and has won multiple championships. He has also been able to score a incredible amount of points and back on Wednesday Dec. 5 he joined some very special company.

In the Los Angeles Lakers’ 103-87 victory at the New Orleans Hornets, Bryant scored on a runner in the lane with 1:16 left in the second quarter surpassed 30,000 points making him the fifth player in the history of the National Basketball Association to reach that mark. He also became the youngest player at 34 years 104 days at the time to reach that milestone.

He joins Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points), Karl Malone (36,928 points) Michael Jordan (32,292 points) and Wilt Chamberlin (31,419 points).

To really understand the true value of this great accomplishment, Bryant became the youngest player at 34 years and 104 days old to reach the 30,000 point plateau. He was also the youngest player to reach the 20,000 point plateau. Chamberlin though reached this milestone in the shortest amount of time needing just 941 games. Jordan did it in 960 games; Abdul-Jabbar in 1,101; Malone in 1,152 and Bryant in 1,179.

In the month of December alone, Bryant who scored 34 points on 12 for 21 from the field in a 111-98 at the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday is averaging 34.2 ppg on 45.8 percent from the floor in the month of December. He is the first player in NBA history to have six consecutive 30 point performances at age 34 or older. He currently leads the NBA in scoring at 29.5 points per contest and has scored 30 points 398 times in his career.

“It’s just a tremendous honor,” Bryant told reporters after the game where he scored 29 points in the victory and is the only time in the last nine Laker contest that he did not score 30 points or more.

“Whenever your hearing those kind of names, you think about the amount of players that have played this game and to be in that kind of company is always extremely special,” Bryant told reporters earlier this month.

NBA Commissioner David Stern, who witness 30,000-point milestone of Abdul-Jabbar was on hand at New Orleans Arena to witness Bryant’s accomplishment.

“Kobe has such an extraordinary run playing at the highest level for so long with the championships to prove it in a league that is extremely competitive,” Stern said to reporters before that game.

Bryant was very complementary of Stern as well when he said, “He’s done a lot for the game and obviously this kind of being his last in office and so forth. It really means a lot.”

One other very fascinating fact about this exclusive quintet is that four of the five players play or played for the Lakers at one point in their amazing careers. It is something that is not lost on Kobe Bryant or his backcourt mate who came into the league with as rookies back in 1996.

“Its amazing to think back in 1996 when we were both rookies and what Kobe has accomplished in his career. What he’s been to the city of L.A. To the Lakers fans. Its amazing,” said former Laker guard and current member of the Dallas Mavericks Derek Fisher, who played for the Lakers from 1996-2004 and 2007-2012.

While Bryant has had a great season individually up to this point, the team as a whole has underachieved. Despite a big win at the aforementioned Sixers on Sunday, the team is currently 11-14 on the outside of the playoffs looking in.

On top of that their victory over the Sixers was just the second time this season the Lakers have won back-to-back games. Prior to the last two victories when Bryant scored 30 points or more, the Lakers were lost 10 of those 11 opportunities.

They have played almost all of this season without their prized acquisition in the off-season, point guard Steve Nash because of an injured fibula. The team’s second best frontcourt player Pau Gasol has missed the last eight games with tendonitis in both knees. The other prized acquisition in Lakers received in the off-season center Dwight Howard, while has put up solid numbers of 18.2 ppg, 11.9 rpg and 2.6 bpg has yet to be the difference maker many hoped he would be.

They hope that their last performance at the Sixers is a sign of things to come as Bryant played well scoring an aforementioned 34 and Metta World Peace had 19 points, a career-high 16 rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Howard had 17 points 11 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. Rookie guard Darius Morris had 15 points going 5 for 8 from the floor, including 3 for 5 from three-point range. Starting lead guard Chris Duhon had 14 points hitting 4 for 10 from three-point land and Jodie Meeks added 12 points off the bench.

The Lakers shot 48.8 percent from the floor and went 14 from 34 from three-point land. This on the heels of shooting 45 percent and hitting just eight threes on 29 attempts in their 102-96 victory at the Washington Wizards.

“The thing I’m most happy about is the energy that were playing with. Even though we’ve beat Washington and its Philadelphia and its not a Oklahoma [City Thunder]. Its not a San Antonio [Spurs], were playing with a better spirit. Were playing with more energy. That’s what I like,” Bryant said after the game on Sunday.

Kobe Bryant came into this league with a splash. He started at the 1997 NBA All-Star Game in 1997 when he won the Slam Dunk contest. He finished his rookie season making the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Since then he has made 14 all-star teams, starting each one since his second year in the league and has won the Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in the game four times (2002, 2007, 2009 and 2011). He ranks third and fifth on the NBA’s all-time post-season scoring and all-time regular season scoring list respectably. He has been named to the All-NBA first team 10 times; All-NBA Second Team twice and the All-NBA Third Team twice. He has been selected nine times to the NBA All-Defensive First Team and to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team three times. He was named MVP of the NBA in 2008. He is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Los Angeles Lakers.

While all of those individual accomplishments are great, the two which are without question the most important to him are the five titles he has helped the Lakers win and the two Olympic Gold medals he garnered with Team USA.

Lakers broadcaster Joel Meyers said it best when Bryant scored his 30,001-point, “Kobe Bryant, the greatest player in the history of the Los Angeles Lakers has just joined some very elite company.”

He would like to make some more history this June as if Lakers do win it all, Bryant would garner his sixth ring, which would tie him with the player that he is most compared to, Michael Jordan. He understands for that top happen though, Nash and Gasol must get back on the court and the team must grow into the cohesive unit that many expect to be.

Information, quotations and statistics are courtesy of 12/16/12 5:30 a.m. edition of NBA Action on NBA TV; 12/17/12 1:30 a.m. edition of NBA TV’s Gametime with Rick Kamla, Brent Barry and Steve Smith; Dec. 7, 2012 ESPNLosAngeles.com article “Kobe Bryant Youngest to 30,000” by Dave McMenamin; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Bryant; www.nba.com.

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