A 30K and 9K Knight for Kobe
Kobe Bryant reached two milestones Wednesday night.
A 30K and 9K Knight for Kobe
Bob Vetrone Jr.
Wednesday night was a special one for Lower Merion's Kobe Bryant. Not only did he become the fifth player to score 30,000 points in the NBA, but he also became the seventh NBA player to attempt 9,000 free throws.
Below are both lists, with the shooting numbers for the top scorers.
Some notes on the scoring list:
♦ Kobe is the only player among the five that has a two-point field-goal percentage under 50% for his career (48.23%).
♦ Bryant has the highest free-throw percentage among the five (83.83%), edging Jordan (83.53%).
♦ He reached the mark against the team that originally drafted him. The Charlotte Hornets, having since moved to New Orleans, picked the 17-year-old with the 13th pick of the 1996 draft.
♦ Karl Malone, the league's second all-time leading scorer, was also chosen 13th overall, in 1986.
♦ If you add ABA and NBA scoring together, one additional player makes the 30K club. That would be former Sixer (and Net and Squire) Julius Erving. Doc's NBA point total (18,364) plus his ABA total (11,662) gives him 30,026. That is exactly 10 more points than Bryant has now, so Bryant should easily pass him Friday night in Oklahoma City.
| Player | 2-Pt. |
Pct. |
3-Pt. |
Pct. |
FT-FTA |
Pct. |
Pts. |
Avg. |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar |
15836 -28289 |
55.98% |
1 -18 |
5.6% |
6712 -9304 |
72.14% |
38,387 |
24.61 |
| Karl Malone |
13443 -25900 |
51.90% |
85 -310 |
27.42% |
9787 -13188 |
74.21% |
36,928 |
25.02 |
| Michael Jordan |
11611 -22759 |
51.02% | 581 -1778 |
32.68% | 7327 -8772 |
83.53% | 32,292 | 30.12 |
| Wilt Chamberlain |
12681 -23497 |
53.97% | — | — |
6057 -11862 |
51.06% | 31,419 | 30.07 |
| Kobe Bryant |
8925 -18505 |
48.23% | 1540 -4566 |
33.73% | 7546 -9002 |
83.83% | 30,016 | 25.44 |
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| Player | FTA |
| Karl Malone | 13,188 |
| Wilt Chamberlain | 11,862 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 11,252 |
| Moses Malone | 11,090 |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 9,304 |
| Oscar Robertson | 9,185 |
| Kobe Bryant | 9,002 |
Great competitor Kobe is plus I heard he shoots 1,000 shots per day in the summer time. If he stays around 4-5 years he should pass Kareem's 38,000 or so mark.— fjulio- Imagine if the Sixers had taken Kobe with the first pick in the '96 draft instead of AI...Amazing to think now that Kerry Kittles and Todd Fuller were also picked ahead of Kobe, among the Top 20 in NBA history.— Stroman
