Move Over Big Fella

Bryant embracing longtime teammate and
co-captian, Derek Fisher, after surpassing
O'Neal as the NBA's fifth leading scorer.

He's at it again.

It was a little over a week ago that Los Angeles Laker guard Kobe Bryant surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jerry West for the most field goals and free throws in franchise history, respectively. Now, he has eclipsed yet another Los Angeles legend.

In his hometown of Philadelphia, Bryant, 33, hit a 23-foot jump shot with 5:07 remaining in the second quarter of the team's 95-90 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, giving him 24 first half points and passing former teammate Shaquille O'Neal for fifth place on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

The 16-year veteran, who is currently leading the NBA in scoring, averaging 29.3 points per game, finished the game with 28 points after just scoring four points in the second half and going 1-for-10 from the field in the fourth.

Bryant's career total now stands at 28,601, five points better than O'Neal's 28,596 and 2,818 from tying Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain for fourth all-time. Prior to this season, Bryant had averaged 1,857 points per year. He has already scored 733 points his season and if he keeps to his career averages, even in a shorten 66-game NBA season, Bryant will need just 1,694 next season to surpass Chamberlain, something he is no stranger to.

In his senior season at Lower Merion High School, Bryant averaged 30.8 PPG and broke Chamberlain's Pennsylvania's high school scoring record of 2,252 career points, finishing with 2,883.

Last season, Bryant donated more than $400,000 to the Lower Merion School District and had his old gym named after him in honor of his unbelievable NBA career and contributions to his old team, leading the Aces to the 1996 state championship.

Along with trailing Chamberlain's 31,419 career point, Bryant also continues to chase Michael Jordan (32,292), Karl Malone (36,928) and Abdul-Jabbar (38,387).

But considering Bryant and O'Neal's history, he may cherish this individual accomplishment the most. Their ongoing love-hate relationship has been well documented after they won three consecutive championships with one another at the turn of the century and went through an ugly divorce in 2004. However, the two have since made peace, come to appreciate what they accomplished together, are arguably the greatest one-two punch in league history and shared the lime light one last time.

At the 2009 All-Star Game in Arizona, with O'Neal a member of the Phoenix Suns, he and Bryant shared the game's Most Valuable Player Award, leaving many to wonder what could have been.

A dynamic duo, O'Neal (32) and Bryant (24)
shared so many magical moments over their
 careers playing along side one another.

Bryant has since won two more NBA championships. Most recently in 2010, when he famously dedicated the win to having more than O'Neal's four, saying postgame, " I got one more than Shaq".

Booed as usually in his homecoming, it's not the first time Bryant has accomplished something special in front of the Philly faithful. In 2001, Bryant came to Philly "to cut their hearts out" and he did, helping the Lakers win their second of three straight NBA titles. The following year, Bryant returned to Philadelphia, capturing his first of his record four All-Star Game MVPs.

However, Bryant is notorious for shooting a low percentage in the Wells Fargo Center, and it was his rare poor fourth quarter shooting that handed Los Angeles their second loss in-a-row.

Bryant only scored two points in the final quarter, seeing his Lakers drop to 14-11 on the year and 3-9 on the road.

Normally never outdone in crunch time, Bryant was, this time by reserve guard Lou Williams, who is apart of Philadelphia's 'Night Shift'.

Williams is a leading candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year Award and is the 76ers' leading scorer this season, averaging 15.5 PPG. The 25-year-old scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth, leading Philadelphia to their 18th win of the season and snapping their four-game home losing streak to Los Angeles.

The 76ers' 18-7 record ranks them No. 3 in the Eastern Conference, but are they for real? They are 6-5 against teams with a record of .500 or better, while 12-2 against the league's worst. Not to mention they have lost both overtime games they have played this season.

Only time will tell if a team that's leading scorer comes off the bench can sustain permanent success.

Los Angeles was without head coach Mike Brown. He was severing a one-game suspension following his outburst and bump of an official in the team's 96-87 loss in Utah Saturday night.

But this night, even in a loss, belongs to Kobe Bryant.