HOUSTON — With a bucket during Friday’s first quarter at Toyota Center, Rockets star Kevin Durant became just the eighth player in NBA history to score at least 31,000 career points.
In this case, he did it against the Phoenix Suns, his most recent team.
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“Eight players in the history of the game, that’s insane,” Durant said earlier in the week.
Regarding the milestone and his personal perspective, Durant continued:
I’m always grateful for all my coaches, teammates, guys that set screens for me, that give up their shots to look for me, that [have] encouraged me throughout my entire career.
I had a few teammates, playing with Russ [Westbrook], he meant a lot in my career when it comes to that. Steven [Adams] meant a lot in my career. Jeff Green. So, every time I hit these milestones I tend to think about my teammates and the journey I’ve been through. Even as a kid, so many people invested in my life, in my career and wanted to see me do well. So, I owe a lot to them. I always think about that when I hit milestones like this.
Durant trails Wilt Chamberlain, Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and LeBron James on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
Both Chamberlain and Nowitzki finished with totals below 31,600, so Durant could reasonably climb to sixth in the coming months, assuming health.
Drafted at No. 2 overall in the 2007 first round, this is Durant’s 19th NBA season.
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This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: 31,000 points: Kevin Durant becomes eighth NBA player to hit milestone