Nick Young says Kobe 'got some potential,' claims he can outscore him

As Kobe Bryant continues his assault on the record books, he's providing some motivation for at least one teammate.

Two weeks ago, Bryant reached the 32,000-point plateau, and on Sunday he became the first in league history to record 30,000 points and 6,000 assists in a career. By the turn of the calendar, he'll likely have passed Michael Jordan for third on the all-time scoring list.

Ask Nick Young, and Bryant's going to come up short of at least one name when all is said and done. And no, it's not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

"On my 20th year," Young said. "I'll probably have 46,000 points or something like that."

Bryant's performance at age 36 and in season number 19 is an incredible feat of longevity and perseverance. And while Swaggy P was willing to concede that Bryant's career has been impressive, he clearly seems to think Bryant's 32,153 career points won't quite measure up to his own robust career totals. 

That doesn't mean he isn't continually impressed by his teammate.

"I think he got some potential," Young said after Bryant's Sunday outburst, during which he tallied 31 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists against the Toronto Raptors. 

As for his claims, well, the math doesn't have Young's back. Currently in his eighth season, he has just 5,952 career points, ranking him 624th all-time. At Young's career rate of 12.2 points per game, he'd need to play another 3,283 games, or about 40 more seasons. 

Maybe Swaggy's just got it like that, or he's expecting a late-career boost to his scoring average. Most likely, he's just having some fun with his elder teammate, because that's what he does.