Suns’ Kevin Durant becomes eighth player to score 30,000 career points in NBA
Only 26 points stood between Kevin Durant and the 30,000 club, and that gap wasn’t nearly enough to stop him.
Entering Tuesday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies with 29,974 points to his name, Kevin Durant was eyeing history.
The future first-ballot Hall of Famer busted open the doors to the 30,000 points club with a minute left in the third quarter, draining two free throws to become the eighth player in NBA history to hit the mark.
By hitting 30,000 points, he joined LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain. Julius Erving also reached the mark when combining his ABA and NBA points.
The 36-year-old reached the benchmark in his 1,101st game, making him the third-fastest to reach it after only Wilt Chamberlain (1,045) and Michael Jordan (1,072). LeBron James, who stands atop the all-time career-scoring leaderboard with 41,623 points and counting, reached the 30,000 mark in his 1,107th game.
“It’s a true honour to be in the same category as those players who helped shape the game and pushed the game forward,” Durant said after the game, a 119-112 loss. “That’s always been my goal is to get the most out of myself every day, get the most out of my career. To be mentioned with those guys, I must be doing something right.”
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Durant’s career points-per-game average of 27.25 is the sixth-highest mark in NBA history. His highest-scoring season was in the 2013-14 campaign, when he finished with 2,593 points (32.0 per game) en route to capturing his one-and-only MVP award.
His durability stopped him from reaching the mark at a younger age. Durant missed the entirety of the 2019-20 season with an Achilles injury and has only played in more than 55 games once since the 2020-21 season. He has missed 13 games this year with a myriad of ailments.
Despite his injury concerns in recent years, Durant’s production has refused to slow down, as the sleek sniper entered Tuesday’s game averaging 26.9 points per game while shooting 52.4 per cent from the field and 39.8 per cent from three-point range.
“It’s special for everyone who’s around him every day,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said after the game. “I think we’re amazed by him, the way he comes to work, the time he puts in, the attention to detail, the effort. It’s translated to 30,000 points. He’s just a special player and a special human being.”
Well-known for his scoring efficiency, Durant has twice joined the 50-40-90 club (50+ per cent from the field, 40+ per cent from three-point range and 90+ per cent from the free throw line), doing so in the 2012-13 season and more recently in the 2022-23 season.
With files from The Associated Press.
