“You should be happy for the person that comes after you to be able to surpass things that you’ve done.” Kobe Bryant was all in favor of LeBron James surpassing him in the all-time scorers list. That was in 2020, and today, King James stands alone at the top of the list as he surpassed Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. There is another stat that the 4x NBA tops, which also features a Bulls legend, not named Michael Jordan.

Speaking about it on the ‘Run Your Race podcast’, Jamal Crawford revealed the historic list that he is part of. “The most shocking stat bro for me is I just saw it. I’m fourth all-time in fourth quarter scoring behind LeBron, Kobe, Dirk it’s myself. And that’s a shocking stat for somebody comes off the bench.”

LeBron James is at the top by being the only player to surpass 9,000+ points. Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant scored 8,207 points with 42.0% FG in the 4th quarter. Mavericks legend Nowitzki is the third player to breach the 7,000 points barrier. He scored 7,404 points with 44.2% FG shooting. Behind them is the 3x Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford. Interestingly, these are the only four guys to breach the 6,000-point mark.

The shared stat was used since the 1996-97 season, when player data started being collected by quarters. For Jamal Crawford to be on the list alongside Kobe Bryant meant a lot since he considered ‘The Black Mamba’ to be the best player he ever faced. During the same podcast, he revealed an emotional reason that changed something in him after Bryant’s death.

Stating that he didn’t watch basketball games until the Lakers legend passed away. It was because of the lack of opportunities he had in the league, even though he scored 51 points in the last game. After all, Kobe was known for his ‘Mamba Mentality’, and a beloved figure for the NBA community.

That’s why Crawford called him his best opponent ever, even though the acknowledgment from Kobe Bryant came fairly late.

Jamal Crawford compares Kobe Bryant to THE Bulls legend

Before comparing Kobe Bryant to Michael Jordan, ‘JCrossover’ spoke about his experience facing the Lakers legend. It took 7 years for him to earn praise from Kobe, “He said, ‘Boy, you hot as a pistol,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, man.’ We never had any real dialogue before, and our relationship really took off from there.”

The game in 2007, where the 18x All-Star breached the 20,000-point barrier, had his eyes on Jamal Crawford. Because the former Bulls star had scored 30 points in the second half. Thus, he earned the respect of Kobe Bryant. And in the same podcast, the free-agent analyst also spoke about what it is actually like to face the 2x NBA Finals MVP.

“I didn’t play against Jordan in his prime, not with the Bulls at least, but he’s, that’s how I imagine he was like, he was just. Seeing this dude like I mean I just hadn’t seen nothing like it. The whole athleticism, the will to win, the ferociousness to everything and we talk about turning down no smoke. He ran to the Smoke, he wanted it all.” When Crawford came into the league, he was part of the Bulls franchise and MJ was with the Wizards.

That’s why he still finds it shocking that he was part of the scoring record featuring Kobe Bryant. And even though he was often the sixth man, he left a significant mark on the game.

“Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.”