Lakers Kobe Bryant Says No To Teamwork Until He Surpasses Michael Jordan in All-Time Scoring List

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant is determined to pass Michael Jordan for no.3 in the NBA all-time scoring leaders, no matter what the outcome of the game, according to NBA insider Dave McMenamin.

Coming off perhaps his worst outing since returning from last season's injury against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, the 36-year old Bryant erupted for 44 points in another painful loss to the Golden State Warriors 136-115.

Bryant, who is averaging 27.3 points on 37 percent shooting from the field this season, made just 15 of his 34 shots, some of which were simply brow-raising attempts.

After absorbing their 9^th loss of the season, Bryant explained during the post-game interview why he decided to carry his team on his shoulder offensively and took than many shots. And as expected, Kobe was just being Kobe.

"I'd rather get guys involved early. That's always the intent," Bryant told the press via the Associated Press. "But when you go down 10-12 points in the hole, man, I've got to try to keep us in the ballgame at some point. The responsibility is on me. I mean, when things go good, it's us. When things go bad, it's me."

Bryant added that he never wanted to take almost half of the Lakers' shot attempts in the game, though he believed he had no choice but to keep the score close no matter what.

Meanwhile, McMenamin said he was told by league sources that Bryant's plan all this time is to top Michael Jordan's 32,292 career points before he begins to accept the team-ball concept.

"League source suggested to me Kobe is making sure he passes MJ in career points while he's healthy & once he does will settle into team ball," McMenamin posted on his Twitter account.

Bryant is just few 40-point games away to surpass his Airness in scoring list. However, do the Lakers deserve to lose more games in order for Bryant to achieve this historic milestone? Perhaps, Bryant is just trying to leave a lasting memory in a season that is expected to be brutal for the purple-and-gold.