Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Kobe passing Wilt tonight?
By Joe Kaiser
Entering Thursday's game in Milwaukee, Los Angeles Lakers legendary shooting guard Kobe Bryant sits only 34 points behind Wilt Chamberlain for fourth-place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. How does Kobe's career stack up to Wilt's? Here are some interesting nuggets of information to consider.
Kobe has a big advantage over Wilt in terms of games played: 1,231 for Kobe compared to 1,045 for Wilt. Kobe has also played three more seasons than Wilt.
In terms of points per game, Wilt has an edge of over 4.5 PPG; Wilt's career mark of 30.07 PPG rank second all-time, just behind Michael Jordan (30.12). Kobe's 25.5 career PPG ranks 11th, behind those two along with LeBron James (27.56), Elgin Baylor (27.36), Jerry West (27.03), Allen Iverson (26.66), Kevin Durant (26.57), Bob Pettit (26.36), George Gervin (26.18) and Oscar Robertson (25.68).
Kobe and Wilt also have the two highest scoring games in NBA history -- Wilt's 100 coming on March 2, 1962 and Kobe's 81 coming on Jan. 22, 2006 (you remember where you were, don't you?!)
Can Kobe score 35 to pass Wilt tonight? He most certainly can, but that's not exactly breaking news. If it doesn't happen tonight, expect it to do so on Saturday when the Lakers play in Sacramento.
