Scoop Jackson gets his rhyme on as he reflects on LeBron James' growing legacy after surpassing Kobe Bryant for third place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. (2:10)

PHILADELPHIA -- Years ago, it was LeBron James following Kobe Bryant by coming straight out of high school to the NBA. On Saturday, it was James passing Bryant for the No. 3 spot on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

James entered the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the Philadelphia 76ers needing 18 points to eclipse Bryant's career total of 33,643 points. It was a grind, as Los Angeles struggled to create offense most of the night, but James reached the milestone with a running layup in the third quarter.

The Lakers went on to lose 108-91 at the Wells Fargo Center in the team's lone trip this season to the city in which Bryant was born.

Philadelphia was prepared for the pomp and circumstance, with a sold-out crowd in attendance -- and a national, prime-time television audience -- to witness history as two star-laden teams from opposing conferences battled in late January. During a timeout following his big layup, James was saluted with a standing ovation.

After the game, James recalled meeting Bryant in Philadelphia during the 2002 NBA All-Star Weekend. Bryant gifted James with a special red, white and blue colorway of his signature sneakers. Even though Bryant wore a size 14 and James wore a size 15, James donned the sneakers in a matchup against a high school-aged Carmelo Anthony shortly thereafter.

"It's just too much. It's too much. The story is too much," James said of Bryant. "It doesn't make sense. Just to make a long story short, now I'm here in a Lakers uniform, in Philadelphia, where he's from. The first time I ever met him, gave me his shoes on All-Star Weekend. It's surreal. It doesn't make no sense, but the universe just puts things in your life. And I guess when you live in the right way, when you just give it everything to whatever you're doing, things happen organically.

"And it's not supposed to make sense, but it just happens. And I'm happy just to be in any conversation with Kobe Bean Bryant, one of the all-time greatest basketball players to ever play, one of the all-time greatest Lakers. The man has two jerseys hanging up in Staples Center. It's just crazy."

Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames. Much respect my brother 💪🏾 #33644 — Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) January 26, 2020

History or otherwise, the Sixers were motivated to defend not only James, but the entire Lakers arsenal. Philadelphia never relinquished the lead in the second half, as Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris combined for 57 points and 18 rebounds in the win. James and Los Angeles built up some momentum in the fourth quarter -- cutting the deficit to five with 5 minutes, 21 seconds remaining -- but the Sixers eventually pulled away for good.

James finished with 29 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds, and he gave the Philadelphia faithful one more lasting memory from the historical night with a breakaway, tomahawk slam dunk off a feed from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope at the 6:57 mark that forced a 76ers timeout. But James also had eight turnovers in the loss.

James inscribed his sneakers with "Mamba 4 Life" and "8/24 KB" in gold marker before the contest, showing respect for the former Lakers great. It didn't stop there. All week in the lead-up to the milestone, he was quick to laud Bryant.

"It's another guy that I looked up to when I was in grade school and high school," James said. "Seeing him come straight out of high school, he is someone that I used as inspiration. It was like, wow. Seeing a kid, 17 years old, come into the NBA and trying to make an impact on a franchise, I used it as motivation. He helped me before he even knew of me because of what he was able to do. So just to be able to, at this point of my career, to share the same jersey that he wore, be with this historical franchise and just represent the purple and gold, it's very humbling, and it's dope.

.@KingJames wrote "Mamba 4 Life" on his shoes as he has a chance to pass @kobebryant for third on the all-time scoring list 🐍 pic.twitter.com/9n6afaaXBR — ESPN (@espn) January 26, 2020

"Kobe's a legend, that's for damn sure."

James said the feat is meaningful to him because of the elite basketball company it puts him in, but he doesn't take any further satisfaction being saluted specifically for his scoring.

"To be linked with the greats, that means a lot to me," James said Thursday. "Because I grew up idolizing Michael [Jordan] and idolizing Kobe, idolizing these guys, gaining inspiration from their craft, gaining inspiration from their stories, being a kid that I am from Akron, Ohio. So, that's huge. Anytime I'm linked with the greats or I'm able to do something in my career where I'm mentioned with any of the greats, it's a pretty cool thing.

"But as far as looking at the scoring, I don't know. That doesn't mean much to me. Just the overall point in my game is what means more to me. Me being an overall, all-around player. Being able to be successful on the floor and being able to contribute to the franchises that I've played for -- the three franchises that I've played for so far in my career."

James surpassed Bryant's scoring total in 104 fewer games.

James has topped Bryant in career scoring average (27.1 to 25.0), field goal rate (50.4% to 44.7%) and 3-point rate (34.3% to 32.9%). Bryant edges James in free throw rate (83.7% to 73.5%) and really separated himself in binge scoring. James has more 30-plus-point games (459 to 431), but Bryant has more 40-plus-point games (122 to 64), 50-plus-point games (25 to 12) and 60-plus-point games (six to one, including Bryant's 81 points against the Toronto Raptors 14 years ago this week).

There was nothing Bryant couldn't do on the offensive end, according to James.