Kevin Durant reaches 28,000 points in fewer games than LeBron James
If not for the many lower extremity injuries that caused him to miss hundreds of games in his career, Kevin Durant would assuredly have 30,000 regular season points already. On Sunday, the Phoenix Suns forward finally joined the 28,000-point club when he drilled a three-pointer against the Orlando Magic, becoming one of 10 players in history to reach the milestone.
Durant also became the fourth-fastest player, in terms of games, to reach the 28,000 mark, doing so in 1,025 games. In comparison, Wilt Chamberlain took 825 games, Michael Jordan 886 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar needed 1,008. Durant also became the fastest active player to reach the milestone, surpassing contemporary LeBron James, who needed 1,033 games to reach 28,000 points.
With the 35-year-old Durant still playing at an elite level, there’s no telling how many more rungs of the all-time scoring list ladder he'll be able to climb. In the meantime, though, with 36 games left in the season, Durant could realistically surpass both Carmelo Anthony (28,289) and Shaquille O’Neal (28,596) before the start of the postseason – provided he remains healthy.
If Durant continues to score at his current pace of 28.5 points per game next season, "Easy Money Sniper" has good odds of surpassing Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) and Dirk Nowitzki (31,560) in the all-time scoring list by the end of the 2024-25 season.
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