The son of Joe “Jellybean” Bryant first broke onto the national basketball stage as a star prodigy for Lower Merion High School just outside of Philadelphia. Tonight, LeBron James can move past the all-time NBA scoring mark set by Kobe Bryant with 18 points in his hometown. LeBron enters tonight’s matchup in Philly averaging 25.2 per contest and has scored at least 13 in every game this season.
Kobe currently occupies the No. 3 spot on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 33,643 points. When James meets Ben Simmons and the 76ers tonight on ESPN he will step onto the floor 17 points behind at 33,626. Only Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have scored more in their NBA careers than Bryant and James.
🔉🆙 LeBron can pass Kobe for No. 3 on the all-time scoring list tonight!
They have bond that goes way beyond the NBA 🙌 pic.twitter.com/RFBvbZbmyi
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 25, 2020
Throughout their professional careers, Bryant and James have formed a bond that was further developed by their time together on Team USA in 2008. Both breaking into the league from high school, LeBron has sought Kobe’s guidance and advice at times on how to manage expectations as a young player in the league. James spoke with the Los Angeles Times about how he would feel if he passed Bryant on the all-time scoring list tonight.
“Things have happened organically because I just go about my business,” James said. “I don’t think about it going into it saying, ‘OK, this is what I got to do. This is how many points I need, this is how many assists I need.’ When it happens, it happens. If it happens.
And, so, I don’t know how I’m going to feel when it happens. But it’s a pretty cool thing, you’re just linked with one of the greatest of all time.”
The Sixers will be without Joel Embiid when they meet LeBron, Anthony Davis and the Lakers tonight in Philly. At 29-17, they currently occupy the No. 6 seed in the East which is far short of preseason expectations. Regardless, the Lakers will need a solid effort collectively on Simmons if they hope to escape with their 37th win of the season.
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