Kevin Durant Passes Michael Jordan For 5th On All-Time Scoring List
We’ve long known that Kevin Durant is one of the NBA greats, but now he’s in rarefied air after beating one of Michael Jordan’s records.
In his first season with the Houston Rockets, Durant has passed Michael Jordan’s 32,293 points for fifth place on the all-time scorers list.
Ahead of him are Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and LeBron James. He and James are the only active players, and with the King almost 10,000 points ahead of him (and still padding), he’ll likely never be caught. But with Bryant’s record a little over 1,000 points away, he’ll be hunting fourth place next. This season alone, he’d already surpassed Wilt Chamberlain and Dirk Nowitzki.
Here’s the league’s top 10 list:
- LeBron James – 43,241
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – 38,387
- Karl Malone – 36,928
- Kobe Bryant – 33,643
- Kevin Durant – 32,293
- Michael Jordan – 32,292
- Dirk Nowitzki – 31,560
- Wilt Chamberlain – 31,419
- James Harden – 29,160
- Shaquille O’Neal – 28,596
Durant’s big score came in the fourth quarter when Alperen Sengun hit him with a pass for a corner three-pointer.
When asked about the moment, Durant, with a smile, referenced his place on the list, saying, “Four more to go.”
He was pressed for his favorite Jordan moment afterwards, but he couldn’t even narrow it down.
“That’s like asking me do I got a favorite Drake song,” he told ESPN. “No, they’re just all great. MJ has so many great moments. He just personifies iconic god level — just everything that I believe in, he personifies.”
Durant’s accomplishment is even more impressive given he had to sit out the entire 2019-2020 season after tearing his Achilles in the 2019 Finals when he was a member of the Golden State Warriors.
But the Rockets are in fourth place in the Western Conference, and are more concerned about a playoff push than Durant’s personal achievements, no matter how impressive.
“It’s cool, but it’s hard to take in when you’re still on the journey, when you just care about getting better,” Durant said. “I don’t ever want to downplay stuff like that, but I’ve got to get up and come to work tomorrow.”
That didn’t stop social media from praising The Slim Reaper. See the reactions below.
Kevin Durant Passes Michael Jordan For 5th On All-Time Scoring List was originally published on cassiuslife.com
