The Phoenix Suns earned their second victory of the 2024-25 season by defeating the Dallas Mavericks 114-102. After scoring 31 points in Saturday night, Kevin Durant joined several legends like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan in an elite list of the NBA history.
With this performance, Durant became the 8th player in NBA history to surpass 29,000 career points. His 31 points against the Mavericks pushed his career total to 29,010 points in 39,094 minutes played as of October 27, 2024, according to the NBA’s official website.
Durant’s journey has been remarkable, spanning 1,064 games. After the game, he reflected on the support that has been crucial throughout his career: “Man… it speaks to so many people who helped me, so many people who got in the gym with me...
“People encouraging me, sending me texts after bad games, took time out of their lives to come and watch me play; be invested in my career. It’s all about them. I’m glad I’m able to do it with this group of guys and in front of this crowd. I’ve got more to do,” Durant stated.
LeBron currently leads the all-time scoring leaderboard with 40,543 points (and counting), followed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe, Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain, and now, Kevin Durant. With Durant’s drive, the 30,000-point milestone is well within reach.
Coach Budenholzer praises Durant’s achievement
Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer expressed admiration for Durant’s accomplishment during the post-game press conference: “ First, credit to Kevin Durant; 29,000. I am embarrassed to say I don’t know how many people have reached that number, but I’m guessing it’s a very small number. What a tribute to a great generational talent. I feel incredibly lucky to be around him every day .
“He just gets to great spots to be able to shoot and score against really great defense. Some of his deep threes, his early threes, I thought he was great on the boards. I don’t know what he finished with, but I thought he competed on both ends and just a great night for him,” Budenholzer ended.
The Suns’ coach analysis was on point. Beyond his 31 points, Kevin Durant grabbed 9 defensive rebounds, dished out 2 assists, and recorded a block and a steal in 39 minutes of action.
How close is Durant to the next All-Time scoring mark?
Currently 8th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, Durant sits just above Shaquille O’Neal, who tallied 28,596 points in his career. The next milestone is surpassing Wilt Chamberlain, who ranks 7th with 31,419 points.
To overtake Chamberlain, Durant needs to score 2,410 more points, which means he would need to average about 29.4 points per game while playing in every game this season. So far, Durant is averaging 28.7 points per game across the first three games of the season. If he continues to perform at this level and stays healthy, surpassing Chamberlain could become a reality before the end of the season.