Will Kobe Retire as the All-Time "Everything" Leading Scorer

[The_Trade_Seer]

^ Can't? Nonsense. My guess is Kobe passes Kareem before he's all said and done and that Lebron later passes Kobe and Durant later passes Lebron ... by the time Durant retires Kareem will be #4 on the all-time scoring list.

[USA]

Kobe doesn't have a chance at Kareem. He would have to score 25ppg for an entire 82 game season for more than 5 seasons. Not happening. Kobe is not scoring 25 ppg in his 20th season. Quite smoking crack. Lebron and Durant won't do it either. Kobe won't even pass Malone. He will end up 3rd all time scorer and 2nd all time in shot attempts. He will pass Jordan in both Allstar and Playoff points.

[EnigmaticProblem]

^ Can't? Nonsense. My guess is Kobe passes Kareem before he's all said and done and that Lebron later passes Kobe and Durant later passes Lebron ... by the time Durant retires Kareem will be #4 on the all-time scoring list.

If Kobe really made a concentrated effort to capture the scoring title, then he could accomplish it. However, I think Kobe would rather retire as an upper echelon talent, than chase the leading scorer header.

LeBron can definitely do it, and probably will-- He'll need to, to inflate his currently deteriorating legacy. I don't see Durant beating LeBron, though. Through his first 4 seasons, Durant has 8,128 points, whereas LeBron had 8,439 through his first 4 seasons. After that, you have to factor in the fact that LeBron was younger when he came into the league. . .

Assuming Kobe is interested in the leading scorer title, I see the list as LeBron, Durant, Kobe, Kareem, by the time Durant is done.

[The_Trade_Seer]

Kobe doesn't have a chance at Kareem.

I think Kobe will have fun proving you and everyone else wrong.

He would have to score 25ppg for an entire 82 game season for more than 5 seasons. Not happening. Kobe is not scoring 25 ppg in his 20th season. Quite smoking crack.

Uh, dude, read my original post ... I don't have him scoring 25ppg in his 20th year, I have him scoring 22ppg, followed by 21ppg and 20ppg and then retiring WITH THE RECORD.

Lebron and Durant won't do it either.

Oh man, what are you a Kareem homer?

Kobe won't even pass Malone. He will end up 3rd all time scorer and 2nd all time in shot attempts.

What, do you have Kobe retiring in 3 years or something?

He will pass Jordan in both Allstar and Playoff points.

Finally, you're speaking some truth.

[DEEP3CL]

Kobe won't pass Kareem, OP needs to get off that pipe dream.

Pipe dream? Oh please. Seems 15 out of the 18 voters on this thread think Kobe can do it. I would say Kobe thinks he can do it too, hahaha.

Simple reason is Kobe won't play til age 38 or 39 or 40. Guards tend to not play that deep in age anyway due to speed issues. It's much easier for big to go past 38,39 or 40 because their game isn't predicated on speed anyway.

Jordan played at 39 and Jordan wasn't as skilled an offensive player as Kobe is ... if Kobe bulks up and plays the 3 like Jordan did he could easily play till 40.

Dude you're in the Twilight Zone, there has NEVER been a guard that has played effectively in his deep 30's. So what if Jordan played til 39, he was an absolute shell of himself. Further more bulking up at that late age will be harder considering testosterone levels start dropping at 35. Only way that happens is unless it's performance induced.

Yeah Kobe can play til 40, but you can hang up seeing the Kobe you some how have imagined you'll see. Trust me man I've seen this over and over. Plainly put it ain't happen'in.

[The_Trade_Seer]

Dude you're in the Twilight Zone, there has NEVER been a guard that has played effectively in his deep 30's. So what if Jordan played til 39, he was an absolute shell of himself.

What are you talking about? Jordan averaged 21.2ppg, 5.9rpg and 4.4 apg his last 2 years at 38-39 years old ... 27 year olds would be lucky to average that. I'm saying Kobe will only need to average 20.5 ppg his last 2 years to break Kareem's record.

Reggie Miller averaged 81% of his career per game average in his last season as a 39 year old ... right around the same percentage Kobe would need to average.

John Stockton and even Grant Hill are two more guys off the top of my head that kept balling at very high levels into or close to their 40th B-day.

That's not the Twilight Zone, that's reality.

Further more bulking up at that late age will be harder considering testosterone levels start dropping at 35. Only way that happens is unless it's performance induced.

Whoa, you saying Michael Jordan used steroids???

Yeah Kobe can play til 40, but you can hang up seeing the Kobe you some how have imagined you'll see.

What are you talking about? I stated and imagine seeing a Kobe who will average 26ppg next year and than drop off by 1 point per game per year until he retires at 39 after avering 20ppg in his final season ... that is quite realistic and if he does that he'll crush Kareem's record. He may not have more than 1 dunk in his last 2 seasons but so what ... he'll still have adeadly mid-range game, be instant offense and a solid leader, nuff said.

Trust me man I've seen this over and over. Plainly put it ain't happen'in.

Apparently you and I must have been watching different sports as I just cited 4 examples above.

[Imadogg]

Dude you're in the Twilight Zone, there has NEVER been a guard that has played effectively in his deep 30's. So what if Jordan played til 39, he was an absolute shell of himself.

What are you talking about? Jordan averaged 21.2ppg, 5.9rpg and 4.4 apg his last 2 years at 38-39 years old ... 27 year olds would be lucky to average that. I'm saying Kobe will only need to average 20.5 ppg his last 2 years to break Kareem's record.

Reggie Miller averaged 81% of his career per game average in his last season as a 39 year old ... right around the same percentage Kobe would need to average.

John Stockton and even Grant Hill are two more guys off the top of my head that kept balling at very high levels into or close to their 40th B-day.

That's not the Twilight Zone, that's reality.

Cmon man... I hope Kobe proves me wrong, but he's not getting the #1 spot on the all time list. He'll more than likely end at 3rd. You are looking at everything all wrong.

You keep looking at age. You can't do that, not when it comes to the NBA. Yes, MJ was still respectable at 40. But Kobe is gonna be 33 next season, MJ was 40 when he retired.. and Kobe has already played in more games than Michael Jordan. He's nearly played as many minutes as Jordan. In the NBA, you look at mileage, how many games/minutes they've played. You don't look at age. Esp. when it comes to a guard.

Kobe compared to Grant Hill is the same. Grant has played in around 200 less games than Kobe, 7000 less minutes. And he's not balling at anything near his own high levels.

John Stockton and Reggie Miller aren't similar. John was a machine... he had one injury in his career, and didn't really ever miss games besides that one year. Both their games weren't based on athleticism ever. Reggie had 20ppg seasons, but neither was really a scoring monster.


You didn't really say anything that proved Kobe would get it. Your Jordan examples are way off the mark, sorry.

[LA Forever]

I think the OP believes in Kobe Bryant just a little too much... I love him to death and believe he is the greatest Laker ever, but c'mon, to break Kareem's record is just too big of a hurdle.

[The_Trade_Seer]

^ No one is laying out why they think he won't or what they think will happen ... I want to see some predictions, some stats to back up all the nay-saying.

Do you people think Kobe's going to retire at 35 years old? Do you think he's going to play till he's 38 but drop off the deep end and be little more than Roger Mason Jr. averaging around 8ppg?

Does anyone disagree with me that Kobe can and probably will average 26-25-24ppg the next three seasons? If so, do you all think he's going to retire then or are my predicted scoring averages of 23-22-21-20ppg over the next 4 years out of the question?

Someone explain.

[Anklebreaker702]

In playoff scoring maybe but not all time no. Too far to go with not enough time

[Anklebreaker702]

^ No one is laying out why they think he won't or what they think will happen ... I want to see some predictions, some stats to back up all the nay-saying.

Do you people think Kobe's going to retire at 35 years old? Do you think he's going to play till he's 38 but drop off the deep end and be little more than Roger Mason Jr. averaging around 8ppg?

Does anyone disagree with me that Kobe can and probably will average 26-25-24ppg the next three seasons? If so, do you all think he's going to retire then or are my predicted scoring averages of 23-22-21-20ppg over the next 4 years out of the question?

Someone explain.

It's because it's all opinion. Kobe is a great scorer one of the best ever, but with injuries & all he has to alter his game if he plans on being around long enough to even have a shot at it. If he becomes the player MJ became in their final 3 peat run he will have a better shot at it instead of trying to prove night after night he can still be the top 2 or 3 scorer in the league.

Let the game flow to you & start letting your bigs do the heavy lifting & its doable. Still will be extremely tough though

[The Skyhook]

I think there is a good chance he finishes 3rd all time in scoring and 1st all time in playoff scoring. That is where I see Kobe in terms of scoring by the time he retires.

[The_Trade_Seer]

Kobe is a great scorer one of the best ever, but with injuries & all he has to alter his game if he plans on being around long enough to even have a shot at it. If he becomes the player MJ became in their final 3 peat run he will have a better shot at it instead of trying to prove night after night he can still be the top 2 or 3 scorer in the league.

Let the game flow to you & start letting your bigs do the heavy lifting & its doable. Still will be extremely tough though

I don't really understand this statement. Jordan's bigs were not scorers during that 2nd 3-peat and Jordan was still option 1a when it came to offense ... Kobe already lets his bigs do more of the "heavy lifting" in regards to scoring then MJ ever did.

[Anklebreaker702]

Kobe is a great scorer one of the best ever, but with injuries & all he has to alter his game if he plans on being around long enough to even have a shot at it. If he becomes the player MJ became in their final 3 peat run he will have a better shot at it instead of trying to prove night after night he can still be the top 2 or 3 scorer in the league.

Let the game flow to you & start letting your bigs do the heavy lifting & its doable. Still will be extremely tough though

I don't really understand this statement. Jordan's bigs were not scorers during that 2nd 3-peat and Jordan was still option 1a when it came to offense ... Kobe already lets his bigs do more of the "heavy lifting" in regards to scoring then MJ ever did.

Yes but MJ picked his spots. His assists went up if im not mistaken as well. He was a silent killer on most nights the 1st 3 quarters then put you to bed in the 4th

[The_Trade_Seer]

^ Yeah, I wouldn't argue that.