Kevin Durant Reaches 20,000 Points
Kevin Durant wrote himself into NBA history during Golden State’s 125 – 106 loss to the LA Clippers on Wednesday night. The Warriors’ forward was forced to lead his team’s attack in the absence of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry.
Durant scored 40 points on the night. In doing so, he also scored his 20,000th point. He is the 44th player to do so. Durant is the second-youngest player to reach this milestone, behind LeBron James.
The only other players to reach the same record before 30 are Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan. Durant is the 8th active player to reach 20,000 points. He is behind Dirk Nowitzki, James, Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, Dwyane Wade, Pau Gasol and Joe Johnson.
His rookie year aside, Durant has never averaged lower than 25 points a season in 10 NBA seasons.
The 29-year old came out of Texas in 2007 as a freshman. Speaking to ESPN before his record breaking game, he said he never saw 20,000 points in his future.
“I had one goal when I came into the league. And that was for me to win Rookie of the Year. I just kept building after that. My second year, I wanted to average 25. Every year I had a goal, but I never envisioned me with 20,000 points, 30,000 points. I was just taking it a day at a time, just trying to lock in, stay in the moment, and here I am.
“I’m telling you, man, it’s never been a goal of mine to count how many points I have. That’s not why I play the game. To be under 30 and do it, that’s special to me too. You play in this league for so long, and having an opportunity to do something like this at this age, you just can’t take it for granted, because there’s not too many players on that list.
“I guess you can look at that at my age, my longevity, and say it’s a sign that I’m still playing at a high level,” he said. “It’s something that’s special, knowing that I’ve been in the league for so long, and I’ve got so much respect as a scorer and as a player, and I don’t want to stop here. I want to keep going and see how far I can take it.”
