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Kobe Bryant is playing his 19th NBA season with the Los Angeles Lakers. In his time in Purple and Gold, he was a critical cog in five NBA championships, two NBA Finals MVP awards, one regular season MVP award, has been selected nine times for the All NBA Defensive team and to be a part of 16 All-Star games.[prem]

Throughout his whole career he was compared and hailed as the next Michael Jordan. Kobe’s playing style, tenacity, and the numbers he put up on nightly basis made for favorable comparisons to the GOAT. You can go into deep analysis how Kobe is better than Michael or Michael is better than Bryant, but one thing is for sure, Kobe Bryant just passed Michael Jordan on the all time scoring list.

It is hard to believe that Kobe will pass up Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Karl Malone, who are positioned on number one and two on the all-time scoring list, but this is a big win for Kobe in his battle with Michael. Next up? One more championship ring to have the same amount of NBA trophies as MJ did.

Okay, we all know the Lakers are a couple seasons away from being a contender, no matter what Kobe says. Even with one less title than Michael, Kobe’s scoring prowess cannot be denied. Here’s 27 GIFs of one of the NBA’s purest scorer’s signature moves: Kobe Bryant.

27. Kobe takes it hard to the hole for the up and under reverse layup.

26. Up fake Vince Carter. Gather yourself. Swish a 20-footer.

25. A no-look reverse layup vs. the Philadelphia 76er.

24. High flying reverse slam over Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

23. No conscience. No hesitation. No matter how difficult.

22. Kobe puts it in reverse against the Detroit Pistons.

21. The Black Mamba takes flight.

20. The up and under. Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in this game vs. Toronto.

 

19. Even when he had a medium afro he could hit it with contact.

18. Kobe entered the league with a powerful two-handed slam.

17. Kobe’s multiple pump fake might be his signature move.

16. A tough fadeaway three against the Portland Trailblazer.

15. The Nets’ Jason Kidd and Kerry Kittles couldn’t successfully double team Kobe in the NBA Finals.

14. Ten years later. No longer in New Jersey, but still scoring against the Nets.

13. Around the back and jam vs. Denver Nuggets.

12. Kobe makes hitting difficult shots seem less difficult.

11. We’ve seen a few of these up and under dunks from Kobe over the years.

10. Playing with a face mask didn’t stop Kobe from taking it to the rack.

9. Kobe goes baseline for the jam over Nikola Pekovic and the Timberwolves

8. The Kobe Bryant pump fake.

7. Kobe’s All-Star moves.

6. Just the standard Kobe Bryant fadeaway jumper.

5. Kobe’s East Bay Funk at the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk contest. 

4. Faking out Kenyon Martin for the jumper. 

3. Remember when a young Kobe Bryant dunked on Ben Wallace in the preseason

2. Vintage Kobe.

1. This could be considered to be his signature move.

No matter how good Kobe is there will always be lots of criticism heaped onto his approach to the game.

As with many of the NBA’s legends, Kobe started his career as more of a athletic, high-flyer that attacked the rim and relied on their extraordinary physical abilities before settling into a ground attack. For Kobe, he began posting up more in a back to basket approach and developed one of the best jumpshot games the league has ever seen.

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With a variety of signature moves; a mix of up and unders, pump fakes, fadeaways, and pull up jumpers, Kobe has shot himself into the top five of the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

Did we miss any of Kobe Bryant’s signature moves? Let us know in the comments below.