Kevin Durant had one man who could challenge him for the NBA scoring title for the 2011-12 season. Apparently that man won’t even bother trying.
With the announcement that Kobe Bryant will not be playing in tonight’s last regular season game for the Los Angeles Lakers, Durant has officially won the NBA scoring title with 28 points per game. Kobe would need 38 to defeat him.
“It’s not a challenge for me to score 38 points, you know? If that’s the benchmark, that’s all you need to do, that’s not really hard to do that,” Bryant told ESPNLosAngeles.com after beating his teammates in a raucous half-court shot competition at shootaround on Thursday. "The biggest thing, most important thing for me is setting the tone for our team. Our young guys have been very supportive for us all year and it’s important for them to get out and perform as well, for us to be there to support them.
“The scoring title is not that important. We know I can do it. We know I can go out and score 38 points. The most important thing is sending the right message to the group, which is putting a championship above all else. That means rest. That means letting other guys play. That means us getting ready for Sunday [for the playoff opener].”
It’s another feather in the future cap for Kevin Durant as he builds his case for one of the game’s greatest of all time. For Kobe, he definitely didn’t need that title to help or hurt his cause one way or another.
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