Shaq challenges Kevin Durant to become NBA's all-time leading scorer
Kevin Durant continues to climb the NBA's all-time scoring list. After surpassing Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone and Carmelo Anthony earlier in the season, the Suns forward eclipsed Shaquille O'Neal as the eighth leading scorer in history with his 22-point effort against the Sixers Wednesday night.
While reacting to the news, O'Neal congratulated Durant and seemingly challenged "Easy Money Sniper" to chase LeBron James for the top spot.
"First of all, I want to congratulate you for becoming eighth on the NBA's all-time scoring list — well deserved," O'Neal said on NBA TV. "But you know it doesn't stop here. I probably see you at... see if you can get to No. 1. Anyway, I'm happy for you. Tell your lovely mother I said 'hello' and congratulations, brother. A job well done. I knew it was gonna get done. If anybody was going to pass me, it was definitely going to be you."
Can Durant actually join James in the exclusive 40K club? Highly unlikely.
Durant, 35, would have to continue scoring at his career pace of 27.3 points per game until 2031 to join the 40,000 club. According to a projection by Yahoo Sports' Ben Rohrbach, Durant would be 42 if and when he attains the improbable milestone.
Those projections would mean more if James, currently at 40,179 points, called time on his career. Instead, the 39-year-old Lakers star hasn't shown any signs of slowing down and continues to pile onto his overall scoring tally. "The King" could very well finish with over 45K points.
The more realistic outcome for Durant would be to finish in the top three over the likes of Michael Jordan (32,292), Kobe Bryant (33,643) and Karl Malone (36,928). However, the idea of him even getting close to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) or James is a mere pipe dream at this juncture.
In fairness to Durant, if not for the many lower extremity injuries that caused him to miss nearly two full seasons, he would have a much better shot at surpassing James or Abdul-Jabbar.
As it stands, the Suns star has 28,610 points and trails the seventh-placed Wilt Chamberlain by nearly 3,000 points. It could take him until the 2025-26 season to surpass "The Big Dipper's" tally of 31,419 points and get closer to Dirk Nowitzki's 31,560 mark. Durant's got a ways to go.
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