Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant has racked up no shortage of accolades throughout his illustrious NBA career.
The 36-year-old has been NBA MVP (2014), a two-time NBA Champion (2017, 2018), a two-time NBA Finals MVP, and a 15-time NBA All-Star.
Durant achieved another accolade Tuesday night in Phoenix’s 119-112 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. With a free throw in the third quarter, he became the eighth player in NBA history to score 30,000 points.
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
Durant joins LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to eclipse the 30,000-point mark.
“A true honor to be in the same category as those players who helped shaped the game and push the game forward. That’s always been my goal, to get the most out of myself every day and the most out of my career,” Durant said after the game via ESPN.
Durant is a four-time NBA scoring champion, most recently leading the league in points per game in 2013-14 with 32,0
It’s difficult to project Durant’s future on the all-time leaderboard. He has played an average of 65 games per season and has a career-scoring average of 27.3 points per game.
Should he replicate those numbers over his next two seasons, he would have 33,557 points, putting him within 100 points of Kobe Bryant for fourth-most all-time. It’s hard to envision Durant getting any higher than that, though.
His next milestone after Bryant would be to pass Malone, who finished his career with 36,928 points.
Social media was full of congratulations for Durant.
one of the greatest
#HookEm | @KDTrey5 pic.twitter.com/q6fGwg5f8g
— Texas Men’s Basketball (@TexasMBB) February 12, 2025
Congratulations to my brother @KDTrey5 on reaching the 30K points club. It was only a matter of time. There are teammates that you become friends with during your time together then there’s teammates like KD, who become your brother for life. Continue your greatness!!
— Nazr Mohammed (@NazrMohammed) February 12, 2025
Congrats @KDTrey5 . Being an offensive machine in the @NBA is the most difficult skillset and you have 30K and counting. Amazing. https://t.co/qiUh1ok6nL
— Eddie A Johnson (@Jumpshot8) February 12, 2025
congrats to our guy, @KDTrey5
#HookEm pic.twitter.com/wJ8nfPPJmz
— Texas Women’s Basketball (@TexasWBB) February 12, 2025