Getty Kevin Durant goes for the dunk as the Brooklyn Nets take on the Boston Celtics
Scoring his first bucket of the game, as the Brooklyn Nets faced off against the Boston Celtics, Kevin Durant carved up a small slice of history. Coming off a screen, driving a few steps into the mid-range area, and pulling up for his patented mid-range jump shot, Durant saw his shot hit the bottom of the net.
And with that bucket, one Durant has nailed hundreds, if not thousands of times during his career, the superstar broke into the top-25 of the NBA’s All-Time scorers, replacing Allen Iverson as a result.
Kevin Durant drills the pull up jumper and passes Allen Iverson for 25th on the all-time scoring list! 🙌
Nets/Celtics live on ESPN
Durant proceeded to score 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting as the Nets secured a resounding win against their Eastern Conference rivals, cementing a memorable night for the 33-year-old Washington Native. For a late-November game, both the Celtics and Nets participated in a physical battle, reminiscent of Iverson’s era, which further paid homage to one of the NBA’s most influential figures in the post-Michael Jordan era.
Durant on Surpassing Iverson: ‘It Means the World’
Sitting in the media room, wearing street clothes, a jovial Durant answered an array of questions from the media in attendance, with the subject eventually reaching Durant’s latest feat.
“It means the world, I dedicated my life to the game at an early age. So, I watched all these guys that I’m passing up, and I wanted to be like them, I wanted to be in the NBA like them, and make an impact in the league like them. Iverson, he was the pantheon for me, one of those guys that I emulated every time I went outside to play with my friends. It’s all surreal to me. I mean, I pictured I would be in the league. I had an idea, but to do it is really special,” Durant said when discussing what his latest achievement meant to him and how surpassing Iverson made it all the sweeter.
“I became a huge Iverson fan, just like everybody else, during his rookie year. Seeing him in Georgetown, playing for coach Thompson, and the culture that they built there, he was a huge part of that. But once he came into the league, he had players from; I was a center, power forward on my young team, we all crossin’, double crossin’, he influenced a lot of people. So, to pass him on the list, and be up there with some of the greats on that list, is incredible. I just gotta keep on going,” Durant continued.
After Durant’s record-breaking night, Iverson has dropped to 26th in the NBA’s All-Time scoring records.
What’s Next For Kevin Durant
According to NBA.com, Durant rose to 25th in All-Time scoring in 902 career games, 12 games quicker than Iverson, and now, with just 117 points separating them, Durant will be gunning for Ray Allen, who currently sits 24th All-Time.
According to Basketball-Reference, Durant is averaging 28.1 points this season, meaning it should take him a little over 4 games to take another step up in the record books. More impressively, it took Allen 1,300 games to score his points total, whereas Durant will likely still be under the 910 mark.
Realistically, we could see Durant climb as high 19th by the end of this current NBA season, with only 1,340 points separating those 6 places. And there’s no telling how far Durant can climb in the All-Time scorer’s list over the remainder of his career! Durant’s game isn’t predicated on athleticism, which gives him a longer shelf-life within the NBA, and it’s pretty reasonable to envision him residing somewhere within the league’s top-10 by the time all is said and done.
However, the 6-foot-10 wing likely has other goals on his mind, such as adding to his two championship rings. With the roster the Nets have assembled, it’s highly likely we see Durant breaking more records and making history in the not-too-distant future.