The Rockets came away with a win tonight against the shorthanded Hawks, who did not have their star player, Jalen Johnson, available tonight. Kevin Durant dropped 31 points, five rebounds, and four assists while shooting 12-22 from the field (54.5 FG%)and 3-8 from the three-point line to lead the Rockets to a comfortable 104-86 victory.
After the game, Durant spoke to the media in the locker room scrum, where a reporter showed him the statistics and relevant calculations for where the superstar is on the all-time scoring list.
He showed the 37-year-old Rockets star what he needs to do to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for second all-time on the scoring list (since he has given up on ever surpassing LeBron James).
“I don’t know how far I am, but I know I’m pretty close to MJ right now. Like 1,000 points away or something like that,” said Durant initially when asked if he is keeping track of the all-time scoring list.
The reporter then went on to show him the numbers. This is what their conversation looked like after that.
Durant: “Jesus! 268 games to catch Kareem? Are you factoring in an average? What’s the average of these?”
Reporter: “25 a game.”
Durant: “God damn! I don’t know if I can get 26 a game for 270 more games, brother.”
Reporter: “But you remember the last time you averaged less than 26 a game?”
Durant: “I do remember: Golden State, my first year?”
Reporter: “That’s right. That’s right. So, I factored in that, you know, you’re [averaging] 26 right now. So, take off a couple of points as you get, you know, closer to 40 [years old]. I put LeBron out of it. I don’t think you can catch…”
Durant: “Nobody’s ever catching that.”
Reporter: “But you think you can catch Kareem?”
Durant: “No, man. I never want to say never, but I mean those dudes set the bar so high, man. I think just to be in the top three, four, you’ve got to play at least 20 years in the league, man, to even reach that, and then, you know, had that still be at that level for 15 to 20 years, you know.
“So, I’m looking at it more like that. You know, you play long, you play 20 plus years in the league, you’ll see where you end up. And if I end up there, it’s cool. If not, I just want to be around and be in the league, you know?”
“That’s always what I wanted as a kid, to be in the league. You know what I’m saying? So, to still be here 20 years later, you know, that’s everything else to be honest, has always been like a cherry on top.”
“I always wanted more for myself. I wanted to be great. I want to be thought of in a historical context, but when I put my head down, I’m just excited to be in the NBA. For this long and still doing it, you know? So, we’ll see what happens.”
Durant is currently averaging 26.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.5 assists while shooting 51.4% from the field, 40.8% from beyond the arc, and 88.6% from the free-throw line. Arguably playing at an MVP-caliber level for the Rockets to lead them to a 27-17 record in the 44 games he played this season (having missed only two games so far).
The Rockets have improved to 29-17 after tonight’s win against the Hawks. They are now headed home to host the Mavericks on Saturday, January 31.
Durant has 31,736 points currently and is currently 556 points behind Michael Jordan (32,292 career points) for fifth on the all-time scoring list. If all goes well, then he should surpass him midway through March.
Do you think Kevin Durant will be able to score 6,651 points and surpass Kareem-Abdul Jabbar’s whopping record of 38,387 career points? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
