Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant dunks the ball against the Detroit Pistons in the second half of NBA action in Los Angeles March 4, 2006. The Lakers won 105-94. (Photo: Xinhua/Reuters)

 WASHINGTON, March 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Kobe Bryant passed his latest scoring milestone in the first quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers' game at Golden State to become the youngest player to score 16,000 points in his NBA career on Friday.

    Bryant, 27 years and 192 days old, was four days younger than Wilt Chamberlain when the Hall of Famer scored his 16,000th career point on March 5, 1964. Michael Jordan was the third-youngest, reaching the mark at 28 years and 31 days, according to the Associated Press.

    Bryant finished 12 points after the first quarter when he scored 42 points, leading the Lakers 106-94 over the Warriors in Oakland.

    Bryant became the youngest player to score 15,000 career pointsjust two months earlier. But Bryant, who entered the NBA straight out of high school 10 years ago, did it in 657 games, only the 29th-fastest in league history. He scored his 16,000th point in his 684th career game, 22nd-fastest in terms of games played, the report said.

    Bryant is the NBA's leading scorer this season, averaging 34.9 points per game, including 43.4 over 13 games in January, the eighth highest-scoring month in league history. Enditem