LeBron James, 17 seasons in, is now 18 points from usurping Kobe Bryant for third place on the all-time scoring list. Over the course of the three and some years that have passed since Bryant retired, James has also taken another kind of torch from him.
Bryant was once the NBA’s standard-bearer for toughness while James was his younger, softer foil. Bryant played through arthritis, it went, while James made a show of a sore elbow. But a decade has passed since the 2010 NBA Finals, the last time the two could be compared, and so much has changed that James has now taken Bryant’s perch.