HOUSTON (AP) — When Kevin Durant began his NBA career he looked at some of the league’s greats as the standard that he hoped to one day reach.
On Friday night against the Phoenix Suns he continued to etch him name among those greats when he joined one of the NBA’s elite groups by becoming the eighth player in league history to reach 31,000 career points.
“As you’re coming up into the league you look at these guys as heroes and put them on pedestals, and you look at their accomplishments as sometimes unreachable,” he said. “But then you get on that road to do your thing … and since 2009, 2008 I’ve been focused on being the best player I can be. And they set a standard for each player when they left the league and I try to live up to that standard.”
The 15-time All-Star entered the game needing just four points to reach the mark. He made two free throws for his first points of the night before accomplishing it on a jump shot midway through the first quarter.
They played a highlight reel of Durant on the video board in the arena and posted a graphic congratulating him on reaching 31,000 points during a timeout in the second quarter. When the camera flashed to him on the bench as the crowd applauded, he was too busy talking to a teammate about the game to notice.
The 37-year-old Durant did it in his 1,141st career game, tying the NBA’s all-time leading scorer LeBron James for doing it in the third-fewest games behind Michael Jordan (1,011) and Wilt Chamberlain (1,015).
The other players to have scored at least 31,000 points are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki.
“I didn’t look at them as something that was out of my realm,” Durant said. “I just felt like, if I locked in and did what I did, I could be mentioned in the same breath as those guys. So that’s the confidence I had, but I knew it was going to be a tough journey.”
Durant, the second overall pick in the 2007 draft, is in his first season with the Rockets after this summer’s blockbuster trade from Phoenix.
Houston coach Ime Udoka, who played against Durant in his rookie season, reflected on his career and how he hasn’t slowed down.
“He’s learned to adapt, adjust and he’s seen everything and to be able to do this with the longevity at this high level is incredible,” Udoka said.
And Udoka expects this to be one of many more milestones that Durant will accomplish before his storied career ends.
“He’s got a long way to go,” Udoka said. “He’ll pass a few more guys and get a few more thousand — so no biggie there.”
Now that Durant has reached the 31,000-point mark, he’s also looking ahead to moving up the list of the NBA’s all-time leading scorers. Next up is Chamberlain with 31,419 points.
“I’ve got more to do but I’m grateful to still be playing and hopefully I keep doing this and keep moving up the charts,” Durant said.
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