On Halloween night in 2007, a 19-year-old rookie from the District of Columbia took a bounce pass in transition. Kevin Durant dribbled once and pushed off his left leg toward the rim. The shot didn’t fall but Durant was fouled.
Durant missed the first free throw, but he made the second. “And there, his first NBA point is scored at the line,” broadcaster Mike Tirico told an ESPN audience. “I think there will be a few more after that.”
A few more and then some. Over the next 17-plus years, Durant established himself as an elite scorer, collecting one milestone after another. On Tuesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies, he passed 30,000 career points with two free throws late in the third quarter, sacred ground that only seven other NBA players have reached.
“There’s what, there’s 5,000 billionaires in the world?” said Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, perhaps a bit high in his estimate. “This is a more exclusive club.”
KEVIN DURANT: 30K CAREER POINTS.@KDTrey5 becomes just the eighth player in @NBA history to record 30,000 career points! pic.twitter.com/8AWaN1gBO6
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) February 12, 2025
Wilt Chamberlain was the first member, scoring his 30,000th point when Phoenix Suns big man Neal Walk goal-tended a shot near the rim in 1972. (“Is that some way to get to 30,000 points?” legendary Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn said that night.) Since then, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James have followed. Julius Erving also scored 30,000 points, but 11,662 came in the ABA.
“I’ve always been inspired by the greats,” Durant said after the Phoenix Suns’ 119-112 loss to Memphis. “I wanted to reach their level. … I’ve been inspired by those guys, and to be in their company is just surreal.
“I just want to do things the right way,” he said. “I want to come to work every day, put my best foot forward. … I’ve accumulated some accolades, but for the most part, I just try to maximize myself every day.”
In his third season with the Suns, Durant was able to reflect after Tuesday’s game but did not want to discuss the milestone leading up to the big night, preferring to wait until he actually got there. He has said he does not set out to pursue a specific award or accolade. He instead follows a simple mindset: Just do more. Keep working and see where it takes you.
It’s taken him miles.
“What is he, 26?” Hall of Fame forward Spencer Haywood said, jokingly, over the summer.
No, he just plays like it. Durant’s hair has thinned; his production has not. At 36, his numbers and efficiency compare favorably to his best seasons. The 6-foot-10 forward still shoots a fading jumper that remains nearly impossible to contest. Still crosses over defenders, finishing at the rim. Still draws double-teams that lead to open shots for others.
“Just consistency of greatness right there,’’ Clippers star Kawhi Leonard said. “You know, year after year, scoring 25-plus at a very efficient scoring rate from all levels.”
NameCareer points
Durant has been criticized for ring-chasing, leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016 and signing with Golden State, where he won two titles. His leadership has been questioned, especially during stints with Brooklyn and Phoenix. But few NBA players are more respected throughout the league.
Minnesota Timberwolves hotshot Anthony Edwards has called Durant his favorite player of all time. Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma wore No. 35 in high school because of Durant. He grew up watching his games and studying his highlight videos on YouTube. Asked what he tried to take from Durant, Kuzma said simply, “S–t, everything.”
Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum did the same.
“K is a great friend of mine, somebody that I looked up to for a long time when I was growing up and modeled some of my game after,” Tatum said. “… I just can’t say enough good things about what he’s done for this game and the generation that he’s inspired, that followed him.”
Clippers star James Harden teamed with Durant for Harden’s first three seasons in Oklahoma City and later played with him in Brooklyn. He said Durant showed him at an early age what it meant to work.
“We see a lot of guys come in this league that are very, very skilled, but they don’t put the work in,’’ said Harden, who’s closing in on 27,000 career points himself. “They don’t maximize their skill set, and he’s one of those guys. I watched him when I first got drafted, how he put the work in, how every rep is the same, and he’s still doing it.”
Added Devin Booker, a teammate of Durant’s in Phoenix: “There’s a lot of people that go through phases where they’re in and then they’re out. You know with him you’re going to get it every time he gets on the floor. It’s inspiring to be around.”
The march hasn’t come without adversity. In Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, Durant, returning from a calf strain, dribbled between his legs, about to drive left. He heard a pop. As he dropped to the court, he saw his basketball career flash before his eyes. Fearing the worst, Durant wondered if his career — at least as he knew it — was coming to an end.
A ruptured right Achilles tendon robbed him of the 2019-20 season. And, yet, Durant somehow returned as a more efficient scorer. In 12 seasons before the injury, Durant shot 49.3 percent from the field and 38.1 from 3-point range. In the four-plus seasons since his return, he has shot 53.1 percent from the field and 40.8 percent from 3. His scoring average has increased from 27 to 28 points.
“He’s still getting better at his age,” said Dallas guard Kyrie Irving, who played alongside Durant in Brooklyn.
Miami Heat assistant coach Caron Butler has a rare perspective. He played with Bryant during the 2004-05 season and later spent time with Durant in Oklahoma City. Asked to compare the two scorers, Butler said both were highly skilled and both dominated the midrange.
“The only thing I would say with Kobe was his relentless speed and agility from the midrange, similar to Michael Jordan,” Butler said. “But with KD, he used the 3-pointer as more of a weapon, and he’s able to have the advantage every night because he’s played against (power forwards) and (centers).”
The NBA’s eight 30,000-point club members have scored the defining points in many ways. Aside from Chamberlain and the goal-tending call, Abdul-Jabbar and Jordan reached the milestone at the foul line. Malone put back his own miss. Nowitzki swished a baseline jumper. Bryant scored in the lane. James nailed a pull-up jumper.
On Tuesday night, Durant got off to a slow start, but he warmed up quickly, scoring 17 points in the second quarter. Late in the third quarter, he drove, got the bucket and drew a foul, putting him on the doorstep of 30,000. Nearly three minutes later, he drove into the lane and was fouled by Brandon Clarke. Durant made the first. Memphis called timeout. He made the second, reaching the milestone.
“I joked with my teammates about missing the free throw so I could actually get a field goal,” he said.
Durant finished with a team-high 34 points. Greatness usually rusts over time. Durant has not yet reached that point.
“I still got a lot of room to grow,” he said. “That’s the crazy part about it.”
“To get to share the court with him was definitely special, but to be able to watch as an observer, as a competitor, as a peer of his, I’m proud of him,” Irving said. “… If he can take this individual accolade under his belt and celebrate, I wish that for him. He deserves it. He’s given our culture of basketball a lot of his time, a lot of his sweat.”
Booker was asked if there was a part of Durant’s game that he would like to integrate into his own. The Phoenix guard knew better. To him, Durant’s mix of size, shooting touch and work ethic is unmatched.
“You quickly understand he’s just 1 of 1,” Booker said. “There’s no other player to ever do what he does, and there won’t be one again.”
— The Athletic’s James Jackson, Eric Nehm, Law Murray, Jay King and Christian Clark contributed.
(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
