Suns forward Kevin Durant hit a major milestone Friday night, joining an elite club of the top scorers in NBA history. The 35-year-old scored 30 points in his team’s 119–111 loss to the Nuggets to raise his career total to 27,423 career points, passing Moses Malone for 10th on the NBA’s all-time list in 326 fewer games than the Hall of Fame center.
Durant addressed the accomplishment after the game, saying that he understands the magnitude of passing someone of Malone’s stature on any list.
“As a basketball player, I think it’s our job to go back and know the history of the game and know who paved the way for us to be who we are today,” Durant said, via HoopsHype. “Just grateful for those guys for doing what they did at that time for us to be able to do what we do now.”
Durant has played for four teams in his career and has led the league in scoring four times, all coming with the Thunder. Had it not been for injuries, including missing the entire 2019-20 season while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, Durant would have reached this milestone earlier in his career.
KD to the rack and with this bucket Durant moves into 10th all-time in NBA scoring 👏
— NBA (@NBA) December 2, 2023
📺 Nuggets-Suns | Live on ESPN pic.twitter.com/UYlkWYeouf
LeBron James, one of Durant’s biggest rivals and the NBA’s top all-time scorer, congratulated Durant for the accomplishment.
TOP 10!!!!! @KDTrey5 CONGRATS 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
— LeBron James (@KingJames) December 2, 2023
Durant now sets his sights on Carmelo Anthony and the No. 9 spot on the career scoring list, but Durant has over 800 points to go before making that jump.
Now 10th on the all-time scoring list: Kevin Durant 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ykEk7JUObn
— NBA (@NBA) December 2, 2023
