LOS ANGELES -- Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has always been lauded for his self-motivation and drive to be the best. It's a good thing he has that internal ambition, because according to Bryant, he's gone through his 16-year career without a true rival on the exterior to push him to succeed.

"I didn't have one," Bryant said after scoring 38 points in the Lakers' 115-107 win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday.

The Lakers play host to the Miami Heat on Sunday. Bryant called it a "measuring stick" game against Miami, which has the third-best record in the league at 28-8 and is 3-0 against Bryant and the Lakers since "The Decision."

Despite Bryant's acknowledging that it's not just another game, he wouldn't characterize his relationship with LeBron James as a rivalry.

"Not for me," Bryant said. "I get up for everybody just the same, to be honest. It's hard for me to turn my meter up any higher than it normally is."

OK, Bryant was asked, how about Dwyane Wade? After all, Wade plays shooting guard just as Bryant does, Wade has one Finals MVP trophy to Bryant's two, and Wade has to be close to as competitive as Bryant or else he wouldn't have given Bryant that hard foul across the face in the All-Star Game.

"He's too young," Bryant said. "He's too young. When I came into the league, he was in elementary school."

Bryant is three years older than Wade, but was already a seven-year veteran when Wade was drafted in 2003.

Bryant said it is "a little late in the game" for him to develop a rivalry with any current NBA player, so instead he is chasing names in the record books rather than in box scores from the 2011-12 season.

"At this point my rivals, in terms of what I have left to accomplish in my career, (left the game) when Magic (Johnson) and Michael (Jordan) retired in '98," Bryant said, referring to the second of Jordan's three retirements that came after he won his sixth and final championship with the Chicago Bulls. "That's it. In terms of what I'm looking to accomplish, that's about it."