Having dropped 23 points and 10 rebounds to help Argentina defeat Nigeria 94-81 in their second game in Group B in the FIBA Basketball World Cup on Monday, Luis Scola was one of the major contributors to the team securing a spot in the second stage.

Besides the good work done for the Argentine national team, Scola also added another honor to his career. The 23 points he got helped the 39-year-old (611 points) forward surpass Andrew Gaze (594 points) of Australia to rank No. 2 on the World Cup all-time scoring list, trailing only Oscar Schmidt of Brazil.

As a happy coincident, Gaze is also in China calling the shots for LiveBasketball.tv from Shenzhen, and he was among the first to congratulate Scola for his new achievement.

"You've been a fantastic player for many, many years. It's a sad day for me, great day for you. By the way, it's taken you five World Cups; me – only four. You're a champion. You've dedicated yourself to the national team for many years and I can't be more happy for you and your achievement," said Gaze.

The Argentine legend replied: "He doesn't know this, but in 1990, when he was playing in Argentina, I was there watching. I'm a big fan of his; I think he's one of the greatest ever. I'm excited; it's a big part for me to be, to have the chance to have my name out there with him, and all these other guys. For me right now it is important, but I feel it's something I'll enjoy more in a couple weeks…oh my God, I just passed this guy."

Thanks to his years in the Houston Rockets playing with Yao Ming, Scola has been one of the favorites of Chinese fans. His incredible posting-up skills were also very impressive. In 2017, he joined the CBA and played two seasons for the Shanxi Loongs and the Shanghai Sharks respectively.

In his interview with Tencent Sports, Scola said the two years in China were very valuable to him. He said that he learned about 800 Chinese words and can call a cab and order food.

As an old-school player who started his career in the 1990s, Scola believes adapting to new way of playing basketball posed the biggest challenge to him. To keep pace with the faster, more direct and more vertical basketball today, Scola lost some weight, and so far he is doing well.