Kareem Abdul-Jabbar thinks 'it's going to be tough' for Kobe to break his all-time scoring record

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 38,387 career points have remained an NBA record since he retired from the game in 1989.

But while the record appears to be Abdul-Jabbar's to keep for the foreseeable future, Kobe Bryant's 31,700 career points do present something of a threat. No active player possesses a point total that comes close to Bryant's (Dirk Nowitzki ranks second with 26,552) and he currently sits fourth in all-time scoring, trailing third-placed Michael Jordan by only 592.

Abdul-Jabbar, however, isn't too worried about Bryant catching up to him.

"It's going to be tough," Abdul-Jabbar told Los Angeles Daily News. "The problem for him is if he's going to break the record, he would have to be the focus of the offense. But what does he have to worry about? He can walk away and be satisfied. He has the jewelry and the stats."

Whether Bryant is "satisfied" with five championship rings is a discussion for another day, but Abdul-Jabbar is right when he says "it's going to be tough" for Kobe to catch him in the all-time scoring table.

Bryant recently stated that he was "fairly certain" he'd retire once his two-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers expires in 2016. If that holds true, two seasons remain for Kobe to score 6,687 points, an average of 3,343.5 points per campaign.

Considering Bryant has never scored more than 2,832 points in a regular season, it looks like Abdul-Jabbar's record will remain untouched for now. Add in the fact that there's a good chance Bryant will experience another injury or two before retirement and surpassing Abdul-Jabbar's career point total seems damn near impossible.