Kobe Bryant hits 30,000-point milestone

Kobe Bryant scored his 30,000th career point tonight while playing the Hornets in New Orleans.

With 1:16 left in the second quarter, Bryant drove into the middle of the paint and pulled up for a floating jumper to score his 13th and 14th points of the game, giving him 30,001 for his career.

Bryant was originally drafted by the Hornets in 1996 but was traded on draft day to the Lakers for Vlade Divac.

Despite playing in his 17th year at the age of 34, Bryant is leading the league in scoring at 27.9 points a game, heading into Wednesday’s battle against the Hornets.

Bryant entered the night with 29,987 career points.

Only four players have more career points than Bryant: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Karl Malone (36,928), Michael Jordan (32,292) and Wilt Chamberlain (31,419).

Asked if he’ll look to top the list, Bryant recently answered, “If I decide to play that long.”

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Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.