PORTLAND, Ore.– Kevin Durant pass Wilt Chamberlain Tied for seventh on the NBA’s career scoring list Friday night when he made a 3-pointer for Houston Rockets in their third trimester 111-105 damage to portland trail blazers,
Durant needed 15 points in the game to overtake Chamberlain, who scored 31,419 points. Durant’s jumper with 7:57 left in the third gave it 31,422.
Dirk Nowitzki is sixth on the career list with 31,560 points.
“It’s always an honor to be among the greats,” Durant said after the game. “Wilt is someone I’ve studied and tried to look up to as much as I can, the type of player he is. As I always say, he set a standard for NBA players and [I’m] “Grateful to have had access to him – and inspired by what he’s created for the game of basketball.”
Durant, 37, is in his 18th NBA season and is a 15-time All-Star. He finished Friday’s game with 30 points and 12 rebounds, also surpassing 8,000 career rebounds.
“No, it doesn’t surprise me when you look at the work ethic and what he does on a day-to-day basis,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said before Friday night’s game about Durant’s impending milestone.
Blazers coach Tiago Splitter said he remembers being impressed by Durant when he was a young player Oklahoma City,
“Just a young Kevin Durant, scoring 30 every night and him continuing to do that, which is amazing,” Splitter said. “At his age, of course, he’s probably at the end of his career, but to do it every night is pretty impressive.”
When the scoring feat was announced to the fans at the Moda Center during the game, Durant was rewarded with a warm applause and a hug from Splatter.
Durant said, “These milestones always make me think about the people who helped me get to this point – the journey I’ve been through, the close calls and the things I could have missed at times in my life.” “So to be here, I’m very, very grateful, and Portland is such a classy, classy city to recognize me and respect me in that moment.”
