Kobe Bryant Scores 30,000 Points & Sparks Twitter Debate Over Michael Jordan Comparison

After Kobe Bryant joined the 30,000-point club in a victory over the New Orlenes Hornets on Wednesday, Twitter users instantly began to compare him to the legend Michael Jordan when ESPN brought up the topic.

Even though the Los Angeles Lakers are struggling, Bryant is having one of the best seasons of his career. The athlete seems to be getting better with age, but some fans are not pleased when he’s compared to Jordan.

The 34-year-old athlete joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain in the 30,000-point club.

Jordan finished out his career with a total of 32,292 points while Abdul-Jabbar holds the record with 38,387 points in his career.

Many maintain that Jordan was the greatest basketball player or all time and whenever a new star begins to emerge, Jordan fans seem to instantly shoot them down — Kobe Bryant specifically, since he’s the youngest player to hit 30,000 points.

Instead of being filled with congratulations for Bryant, most tweets noted that Jordan made 30,000 points in fewer games and some even dredged up the players' high school stats.

Some of the popular tweets were:

“If Kobe were the truth, no disrespect to his accomplishments, which are plenty, there wouldn't be a question to debate,” @GrandKazuya said.

“Kobe a better jump shooter than Jordan, but other than that Jordan got it,” @Pryy__ shared.

@DaMuffin_Man74 didn’t think there should be any comparison. He tweeted, “Kobe Bryant Highest Shooting % was Michael Jordan's Lowest, What else do we need to talk about”

@anKhorman noted, “if Kobe went to college he would be at about 25k”

“Obviously Jordan is a better scorer than Kobe dumbases!” @ikicksG wrote.

“The arguments between Jordan vs Kobe/Lebron will never end,” said @_DeVodneyThomas, taking note of the endless scrutiny.

“Sports center is asking who's the better scorer between Kobe and Mike? Just stop, that's blasphemy. Seriously, stop,” @AintItJay pleaded.

@jbalagot94 gave the NBA star some credit, “Kobe the youngest to reach 30,000 points... Gotta love him sometimes”

@jmsprstn said, “Kobe is an excellent talent, but there's no argument to be made that he's a better scorer than Jordan was.”

Jordan and Bryant are both phenomenal players in their own rights, but the Wall Street Journal noted that if Bryant is able to keep up his numbers from this season he could have a chance at catching up to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time scoring list.