GRAPHIC: Bryant's pursuit of Jordan could culminate Friday

When Kobe Bryant takes the floor against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, just 30 points stand between him and Michael Jordan.

With a 30-point outing, a mark Bryant has achieved 425 times in his 19-year career, Bryant will move into a tie with Jordan for third place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Should he get to 31, something he hasn't done against the Spurs since January of 2007, third place will be his alone.

If it doesn't happen Friday, a realistic possibility, it will almost surely happen Sunday when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Minnesota Timberwolves. What's one more game, when it's taken 1,267 to this point, right?

Friday will be Bryant's 1,268th career game, almost 200 more than Jordan needed to reach 32,292. A good deal of that difference has to do with Bryant playing sparingly as a rookie and taking a few years to reach his peak, while Jordan more or less hit the ground running. The graph below maps their cumulative scoring total by career game:

Then again, Bryant had an edge by entering the league at an earlier age. He's been accumulating points since he was 18, a full three years before Jordan was an NBA player. The graph below maps their cumulative scoring by age:

The earlier start – and not taking multiple respites from active play – has afforded Bryant more seasons than Jordan, as well. The graph below maps their cumulative scoring by season:

The message is the same in basically every case – Jordan scored at a faster pace, but Bryant's remarkable longevity and sustained level of production have allowed him to catch up. Jordan averaged 30.1 points to Bryant's 25.5, with slight edges in rebounds and assists, as well.

Despite Bryant's reputation as a heavy shooter, he's only taken 329 more field goal attempts so far. That's in large part because Bryant's game has involved a much heavier use of the 3-point shot, something Jordan never really made a regular part of his arsenal.

It would be fitting, then, if Bryant used a triple to jump past Jordan, whether that be Friday or Sunday.