Brad Penner / USA TODAY Sports
Nets star forward Kevin Durant made some NBA history during Brooklyn’s 125-117 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night. On a jumper he knocked down midway through the second quarter of the contest, Durant passed San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan to move into 15h place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Duncan scored 26,496 points over the course of his illustrious career — a number that Durant has now eclipsed.
You can see the bucket that propelled Durant past Duncan below:
The next player in front of Durant on the all-time list is Dominique Wilkins, who scored 26,668 career points. Then there’s Oscar Robertson (26,710) and Hakeem Olajuwon (26,946). Durant will likely pass all three of those players this season if he remains healthy. As it stands now, Durant is less than 1,000 points away from moving into the top 10, so it’s only a matter of time until that happens.
Durant is a four-time NBA scoring champion and one of the most prolific bucket-getters the league has ever seen. At 34 years old, he still appears to be near the peak of his powers on the floor. If anything, he’s getting more efficient as the years go on. This season, Durant is averaging 29.9 points per performance while shooting a career-high 56 percent from the floor.
As a pure shooter with elite size, Durant has the type of game that should age exceptionally well. In other words, the two-time champion could potentially continue to pile on the points for years to come. When all is said and done, he could conceivably find himself near the top of the list.
