{"id":330982,"date":"2025-12-06T07:06:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T07:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/330982\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T07:06:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T07:06:08","slug":"kevin-durant-hits-31000-career-points-reflects-on-following-michael-jordan-kobe-bryant-and-5-other-nba-legends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/330982\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Durant Hits 31,000 Career Points; Reflects On Following Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant And 5 Other NBA Legends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kevin Durant<\/a> has now become part of an elusive group of NBA legends who have crossed the 31,000-point threshold for their careers. Only seven other players have accomplished this milestone. They are: LeBron James<\/a> (42,268 points), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar<\/a> (38,387), Karl Malone<\/a> (36,928), Kobe Bryant<\/a> (33,634), Michael Jordan<\/a> (32,292), Dirk Nowitzki<\/a> (31,560) and Wilt Chamberlain<\/a> (31,419).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Congrats to Kevin Durant of the @HoustonRockets<\/a> for becoming the 8th player in NBA history to reach 31,000 career PTS! pic.twitter.com\/NXM9h0PPDD<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NBA (@NBA) December 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

The Rockets veteran started tonight needing only four points to reach the 31,000 points landmark and ended up stuffing the box score. He finished the game with 28 points, four rebounds, eight assists, three steals, and one block while shooting an efficient 11-of-17 from the floor (64.7%) against his former team.<\/p>\n

Following the Rockets\u2019 117-98 blowout win over the Suns, Durant spoke to the media<\/a> about reaching the elite milestone in the NBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot. I\u2019m grateful I\u2019m still here in the league at this age, you know, playing and contributing to a team. Just grateful for that. You know, having so many great teammates, coaches that, like I said, invested in me and got me better and spent time away from their families and their lives to help me get better at basketball,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that was their job, but it\u2019s still, you know, incredible for them to invest that much into me. So, I always think about that more so than anything else. Just the long journey it takes to, you know, stay around the league this long.\u201d<\/p>\n

A reporter further asked him later in the press conference about whether these legendary names fuelled his motivation to accomplish this milestone and forever write down his name in NBA history books.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you\u2019re coming up into the league, you look at these guys as heroes, and you put them on pedestals, and you look at the accomplishments as sometimes like unreachable, you know, but then you get on that road to trying to do your thing, and that\u2019s how I\u2019ve done it since 2008,\u201d Durant explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been focused on trying to be 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. I wouldn\u2019t say I try to compete with them or overtake them, but guys like Wilt, Michael, Kobe, I\u2019m missing so many guys. They just set a standard that I try to reach every day, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I didn\u2019t look at them as something that was out of my realm. I just felt like if I locked in and did what I did, I could be mentioned in the same breath as those guys. That\u2019s the confidence I had,\u201d he further added.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I knew it was going to be a tough journey. So, I got more to do. I\u2019m grateful to uh still be playing and and hopefully I keep doing this, keep moving up the charts,\u201d said Durant in conclusion.<\/p>\n

After missing their last matchup<\/a> with the Suns<\/a>, Durant made sure to leave an impression on this one. The Rockets have improved their record for the season to 15-5 and are currently the No. 2 seed in the West as they are now set to face the Mavericks<\/a> tomorrow night to close out this back-to-back sequence of games.<\/p>\n