Kobe Bryant grinned and uttered the word "irony" as he considered the fact that the team that drafted him nearly 17 years ago was his opponent on the night he eclipsed a scoring milestone to join an exclusive club of NBA greats. On Wednesday, by scoring 29 points in a 103-87 triumph for the Los Angeles Lakers over the New Orleans Hornets, Bryant became the fifth player in NBA history to score 30,000 points. It's easy to forget that it was the Hornets who drafted and then traded Bryant away back in 1996. In the years since, the Hornets have changed cities, from Charlotte to New Orleans.
"It's funny how sports always seems to kind of have that connectivity, in some shape, form or fashion," Bryant said. "It just always seems to come full circle." Bryant entered the game needing 13 points to make history and no one doubted he would do it. NBA Commissioner David Stern, who happened to be making a scheduled visit with new Hornets owner Tom Benson, offered Bryant a congratulatory hand shake before tip-off. Bryant had 17 points by halftime, eclipsing the 30,000-mark with a short jumper in the paint over Robin Lopez late in the first half. That might have been the least spectacular of his baskets, which included the usual array of soaring dunks, demoralizing transition three-pointers and twisting, off-balance jumpers.
The only other players to score more than 30,000 are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. "It's pretty awesome," Bryant said. "These are players I respect tremendously and obviously grew up idolizing and watching and learned a great deal from." When Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni was asked before tipoff about Bryant's impending milestone, the coach joked: "That just means he's old." In fact, at 34, Bryant is younger than the other four were when they hit the mark, but Bryant also turned pro at 18, and is in his 17th season. "Honestly, I don't know why I'm still working as hard as I am after 17 years," Bryant said. "That's the thing that I'm most proud of every year, every day working hard at it. It's a lot of years, a lot of work."
