Kobe Bryant News L.A. Lakers

Bryant beats Wilt to 20,000 career points

Kobe Bryant beat Wilt Chamberlain with 12 days to spare, and he did it at his favorite venue.

Kobe Bryant became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 20,000 points, surpassing the mark Sunday at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks.

"I always like playing here, period," Kobe Bryant said. "Last year, I didn't have an opportunity to play, and I was upset about it. This is my favorite arena to play in, so I'm just happy and relieved that I was able to play tonight."

Kobe Bryant, who was suspended last season when the Los Angeles Lakers played at New York, scored 39 points in the Los Angeles Lakers' 95-90 victory and sits 31st on the all-time scoring list with 20,019.

His 3-pointer early in the third quarter allowed him to reach the milestone at the age of 29 years, 122 days.

Previously only Wilt Chamberlain (29 years, 134 days) and Michael Jordan (29, 326) had reached 20,000 before turning 30.

Chamberlain is fourth on the all-time scoring list with 31,419, while Jordan is third at 32,292. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar tops all players with 38,387.

Other names of note: former Nugget Alex English is 12th at 25,613; Nuggets assistant coach Adrian Dantley is 18th at 23,177; current Nuggets player Allen Iverson was at No. 24 with 21,516 before Sunday night's game; and Fairview High School's Tom Chambers is 30th at 20,049.

[More at www.denverpost.com]