Watch: Kobe Bryant becomes the youngest player at time of playing to reach 20,000 career points, 14 years ago on this day
NBA legend and five-time champion, the late Kobe Bryant on this day in 2007 became the youngest player at the time to cross the 20,000 points milestone. And he did that in style, dribbling up the court to casually pull up and shoot a contested 3-pointer against the New York Knicks.
The Lakers beat the Knicks 95-90, as Kobe Bryant scored 39 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and fell short of a triple-double by two assists. He made 14 of his 28 field-goal attempts in 42 minutes on the floor.
14 years ago today, Kobe became the youngest player at the time to reach 20,000 points 👏 https://t.co/o9PRVAu89a
Kobe Bryant had many memorable nights at Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Knicks, and has often mentioned what the arena means to him as a basketball player. In a postgame interview after achieving the scoring milestone, Kobe Bryant said:
“It is special to do it here (MSG). The culture of basketball here, it is the Mecca, it is special to play in Madison Square Garden. This is my favorite place to play.”
Kobe Bryant reached the milestone at age 29 years, 122 days, to surpass Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain, who achieved the feat at age 29 years, 134 days. Kobe Bryant’s scoring only picked up ever since that record. Kobe Bryant, who donned the No. 24 jersey in the second half of his career, went on to win the 2007-08 Most Valuable Player at the end of the season.
Kobe Bryant was almost unstoppable in his MVP season
By the start of the 2007-08 season, Kobe Bryant already had three NBA titles to his name, but he was hungry for more. Throughout the regular season, he averaged 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. Kobe Bryant scored a whopping 775 field goals in the season, only second behind LeBron James, who scored 794 field goals.
Kobe Bryant, 2007-08 NBA MVP 💜💛
#20HoopClass Enshrinement: Saturday, May 15 - 5:30pm/et on ESPN https://t.co/IxKsbmmrhm
In his first season with Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to the first seed with a 57-25 record. Pau Gasol joined the roster only in February of that year, and by then the Lakers were 35-20. Kobe Bryant even put up a strong defensive season, playing lockdown defense and registering 151 steals. He scored 30 or more points in 36 games and did not miss a single game throughout the season.
Kobe Bryant’s best performance of the season was in a loss against the Memphis Grizzlies. He scored 53 points in 42 minutes, making 19 of his 37 field-goal attempts. Nine of those field goals were 3-pointers on a 52.9% deep shooting night. To add to his scoring, Kobe Bryant grabbed 10 rebounds to complete a double-double and recorded three steals on the defensive end.
The Lakers unexpectedly lost the game by a three-point margin, as the Memphis Grizzlies’ Rudy Gay and Darko Milicic combined for 48 points.
Kobe Bryant recorded another 50-point double-double in the 2007-08 season, defeating the Dallas Mavericks 108-104.
In a game that was decided only in overtime, Kobe Bryant dropped 52 points, scoring eight crucial points in the extended period. He added to his dominant performance with 11 rebounds and four assists, also drawing a lot of fouls; Kobe Bryant made 20 of his 27 free-throw attempts in the matchup.
Kobe Bryant carried around a cut-out of Paul Pierce as motivation after losing to the Boston Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals.
Mamba then won the next two titles, and that included getting his revenge against Pierce and the Celtics in 2010 🐍
(h/t @S10Bird) https://t.co/coQIIEiP4S
The Lakers lost only two games in the playoffs on their road to the 2008 NBA Finals, before they matched up with their rivals, the Boston Celtics.
In the Finals, Kobe Bryant averaged 26.4 points, 5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 3 steals per game over six games. Unable to close out some tightly contested games and losing Game 6 by 39 points, the Lakers' robust season came to a disappointing end. Kobe Bryant, upset with how the season ended, carried a chip on his shoulder until they faced the Boston Celtics again. The rest is history.