Kobe Bryant is Lakers new All-Time Scorer

LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant further added to his legend on Monday night when he became the franchise's all-time leading scorer. Bryant surpassed legendary Lakers star Jerry West, albeit in a losing effort to the Memphis Grizzlies. Bryant finished the game with 44, but oddly wasn't the one taking the final shot for his team. Instead he kicked the ball out to Ron Artest for a missed three as time expired. Rudy Gay had 25 points including a 3-pointer with 29.5 seconds remaining. New All-Star, Zach Randolph, had 22 points and 17 rebounds to lead Memphis to the victory, 95-93 over Los Angeles.

Bryant set the new Lakers scoring record against the former Vancouver team now playing in Memphis. Ironically, Bryant's all-time scoring record in a game, 81 points, was set against another Canadian NBA franchise, the Toronto Raptors. Bryant's record-breaking basket was a light dunk late in the third quarter.

Kobe was gracious towards the former Lakers all-time scorer:

"It's a great honor to say the least," said Bryant, who broke the record of the man who later drafted him as the Lakers' general manager. "[West] taught me so much when I was 17 years old. He showed me a lot about the game, the jump shot and spin moves and all the others." - ESPN.com

Pau Gasol's younger brother, Marc had a kickout pass to Rudy Gay for the 3 that helped the Grizzlies under 30 seconds. The Grizz continue the hunt for a possible playoff spot this season, while the Lakers look to bounce back from the loss. And despite a Lakers loss, a few important points were made. Kobe's now got 25,193 for his career.

NJ Nets start 0-18, Can they buy a win?

Devin Harris must have been jumping for joy when he learned he was heading to the New Jersey Nets. Not only was he being traded for one of the all-time greatest point guards in the game, Jason Kidd, but he was at least going to have an alley-oop wingman in Vince Carter. Harris who's been known to score in bunches probably felt like he could at least garner some attention for future free agency. However, he soon inherited a team minus Vince Carter, full of newbies and guys who skipped the D-League. And now, Devin Harris and the Nets have officially sank to a new low, as the team has began the 2009-10 campaign at 0-18. The loss is a new record for worst start to an NBA season, with 23 games the longest losing streak in NBA history during a season. Ironically that 18th loss came to Harris' former team, the Dallas Mavs.

It's a dismal record and beats out previous awful starts by the LA Clippers and expansion Miami Heat. New Jersey is playing like an expansion team right now, with no real identity, young players, a new coach - GM Kiki Vandeweghe (Lawrence Frank was fired last week), and lack of offense or defense. The interesting stat to see would be how many games part owner Jay-Z has sat courtside for this season. It's likely Jigga man preferred slapping hands with VC, Kidd and Richard Jefferson, but isn't exactly in a rush to give a fist bump to Yi or Josh Boone after a score. For several years now, the talk of Jay-Z and Nets officials has been discussion of moving this team to Brooklyn, but would the city really want this team?

Perhaps the answer is for Jay-Z to do something about this. The mogul could arrange a who's who of rap artists for a "Rappers Unite for New Jersey" campaign. Then the Nets could buy a win, or some players to help stop the bleeding. New Jersey's upcoming games against the Charlotte Bobcats, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, andIndiana Pacers offer the team a glimmer of holiday hope for that first W. Right now, they're in contention for next year's #1 draft pick, but surviving the 82 game season will be quite a ride for Nets fans, players and personnel.

Read more about the NJ Nets at NY Daily News

Lebron Wants Triple Doubles

Just 10 points for King James in the Cavs' season opener Wednesday night, against the Dallas Mavericks. Lebron was kept in check by some tough D, but he surely will represent in his next game. It's rare to see a guy of his caliber have back to back poor performances.

In related news, Lebron has openly admitted he wouldn't mind matching Oscar Robertson's record of averaging a Triple Double for an entire season. Robertson achieved this way back in the 1961-62 season, just his second year in the league. James has several seasons under his belt, but these days that type of stat line seems tougher to keep up over the course of a season. Jason Kidd said he wanted to achieve this last year but fell short of the goal, and he scores far less points than James. It seems that one of these 2 guys could be the type to pull this off if anyone in the league can.

From Cleveland.com sports, James said:

"As an individual accomplishment, what Oscar Robertson did by averaging a triple double over the course of a season stands out in my mind," said James, who has 12 career triple doubles. "That's automatic team success. You're doing the three things that need to be done in a game: pass, rebound and score. You're going to win when you do that."

And based on last night's performance you're going to lose if you keep putting up low scoring numbers. Lebron knows better, so watch out, the season is young and so is he...