Kobe Bryant shooting over Orlando's Dwight Howard in the 2009 NBA Finals (Creative Commons).

Kobe Bryant has been called many things over the course of his career.

He’s been labeled “the best in the game today,” “the best closer” and even a sexual predator. But will we one day be able to call Bryant the best scorer ever?

As Bryant’s illustrious NBA career begins its descent, the question of how he will be remembered in the lore of the league continues to be debated.

If we are to measure his greatness against the legacies of the 303 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, Bryant’s 15-year career still lacks the credentials to be considered the best ever.  

His recipe for basketball’s coveted and unspoken title of “the greatest of all-time” requires a quartet of milestones: the most total points, the most playoff points, one more championship than Michael Jordan (placing him at seven) and winning an NBA title without Phil Jackson.

Achieving those four accomplishments will, in my eyes, place Bryant in a category of his own above the rest.

By holding the all-time points title, he will engrave his scoring capacity in basketball’s collective memory. Realizing the same mark in the playoffs will prove that he could not only score, but score under pressure. And winning one more ring than Jordan will negate the argument that Bryant’s career, which will soon pass Jordan’s in longevity, can never top “His Airness.”

So how does he get there?

Bryant is already ninth on the all-time scoring list, with 26,913 points.

In comparison to the league’s best, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -- who holds the league record for most points in his career at 38,387 -- had 29,810 points after 15 seasons in the NBA. It took Abdul-Jabbar 20 seasons to reach his record number of points.

Crunching the numbers, Bryant needs 11,475 more points to surpass Abdul-Jabbar’s record.

If we assume Bryant maintains his current scoring average of 25.0 points per game, it would take him roughly 459 more games – just under six more seasons – to become the league’s all-time best scorer. That’s just six more seasons for the “Black Mamba” to go down as the league’s best scorer.

Seeing as he's 32 years old and getting increasingly vain, I have no problem saying Bryant will play at least another six seasons.

For the playoff mark, MJ holds the current record at 5,987 total playoff points. Bryant is 935 points behind Jordan in this category, and fourth all-time behind Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal, with 5,052.

To match Jordan, Bryant would have to play roughly 37 more games scoring at his career playoff average of 25.5 points per game. Assuming he will play at least 16 games in the playoffs this season by way of the Lakers making the Finals for the fourth straight year, this record is definitely within reach.

Owning one more ring than Jordan will undoubtedly be the toughest task for Bryant. Not only would the Lakers have to win the title this year, becoming just the sixth team ever to 3-peat, he would likely have to win his seventh without the help of his mentor.

For Bryant’s final challenge, he will have to do something Jordan never could: win it all without Jackson. 

Other NBA records, however, will never be broken.

No player will match Bill Russell’s 11 titles with the Boston Celtics in the 60s. I think its safe to say that Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point performance for the Philadelphia Warriors in 1962 against the New York Knicks is a record fashioned in such a way that it is untouchable.

Then again, Kobe came pretty close.

Kobe's 81-point performance just five years ago marked the second-highest scoring performance in NBA history. And given the nature of the NBA today and the increased collective athleticism exhibited by its players, Bryant’s performance against the Toronto Raptors may be just that much more spectacular.

In order to prove he's the greatest of all-time, though, he is going to have to play at least six more seasons at a high level, break Kareem's scoring record, win two more championships, break Jordan's playoff scoring record and win a ring without Phil.

That’s my recipe for Kobe's basketball immortality.

What's yours?

Weigh in in the comments section below.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL OF MY PREVIOUS LAKERS COLUMNS.

To reach BGLakers Columnist Benjamin Gottlieb, click here.

Follow him on Twitter @benjamin_max.