Kevin Durant surpasses Moses Malone to join the list of the top 10 scorers in NBA history.
Phoenix (AFP) – Kevin Durant sometimes spends idle time browsing YouTube, looking through old clips of NBA greats.
The 35-year-old continues to earn his place among them.
Durant moved to tenth place on the NBA’s scoring list on Friday night, surpassing Moses Malone in the second quarter of the Suns’ 119-111 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
“It’s a long journey to get there, being mentioned with the greats,” Durant said. “It takes a lot of work, a lot of preparation, and a lot of people helping me get to this point.”
Durant hit the mark By driving the baseline for two points with 50.3 seconds left in the first half. Durant needed 17 points to get past Malone entering the game, the 1,003rd point of his career.
Durant finished with 30 points, but shot 8-for-25 from the field, leading 0-for-10 in the second half. It pushed his career total to 27,423. Malone has 27,409 in the NBA after starting his professional career with two seasons in the ABA.
Durant said Malone is one of the most underrated players in league history.
“As a basketball player, I think our job is to go back and learn the history of the game and who paved the way for us,” Durant said.
The 6-foot-11 Durant is a 13-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion, and has played for the SuperSonics/Thunder, Warriors, Nets and Suns. He played one season in college at Texas before being taken second overall in the 2007 NBA draft when he was 19 years old.
He was in the NBA for 17 seasons — missing a full year with an Achilles injury — and averaged more than 27 points.
Durant is averaging 31.3 points, just shy of his career-high of 32.0 ppg (achieved during Kia’s 2014 MVP campaign), while achieving a 51.8 FG%, 49.3 3P%, and 89.6 FT%. He passed Elvin Hayes for 11th overall on November 21 against the Blazers.
LeBron James leads the scoring list with 39,124 points, and is the only other active player in the top 25. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,397) is in second place, followed by Karl Malone (36,928), Kobe Bryant (33,643) and Michael Jordan (32,292). Dirk Nowitzki (31,560), Wilt Chamberlain (31,419), Shaquille O’Neal (28,596), and Carmelo Anthony (28,289).
Durant ranks 13th on the combined NBA/ABA list, with former ABA stars Julius Erving eighth (30,026), Malone ninth (29,580) and Dan Issel 12th (27,482).
Carmelo Anthony is next – at 28,289 – with Shaquille O’Neal not far behind (28,596). If Durant maintains his current health and pace, Anthony should be in range at the end of January, with O’Neal in the mix after about 10 games.
Top 10 of all time.
Congratulations, KD, on moving to 10th place in @nba All-time scoring leaderboard! pic.twitter.com/0wjKmq6fef
-Phoenix Suns (@Suns) December 2, 2023
congratulations for @KDTrey5 Subordinate @the sun For moving to tenth place on the all-time scoring list! pic.twitter.com/YiT5QEKxMQ
– NBA (@NBA) December 2, 2023
