PORTLAND, Ore. — Kevin Durant passed Wilt Chamberlain for seventh on the NBA’s career scoring list Friday night when he made a 3-pointer for the Houston Rockets in the third quarter of their 111-105 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Durant needed 15 points going into the game to eclipse Chamberlain, who scored 31,419. Durant’s jumper with 7:57 left in the third gave him 31,422.
Dirk Nowitzki is sixth on the career list with 31,560 points.
“To be amongst the greats is always an honor,” Durant said after the game. “Wilt is somebody I studied and tried to look up to as much as I can, a player like that. Like I always say, he set a standard for NBA players, and [I’m] grateful to reach that — and inspired by what he produced 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 amaze me when you see 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.
Trail Blazers coach Tiago Splitter said he remembered being impressed by Durant when he was a young player with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“Just a young Kevin Durant, scoring 30 every night, and he just keeps doing that, which is amazing,” Splitter said. “At his age, of course, he’s probably at the end of his career, but just doing that every night is just impressive.”
When the scoring achievement was announced to fans at the Moda Center during the game, Durant was rewarded with warm applause and a hug from Splitter.
“These milestones always have me reflecting on the people that helped me get to this point — the journey that I’ve been through, the close calls and the things that could have went left plenty of times in my life,” Durant said. “So to be here, very, very grateful, and Portland is such a classy, classy city for recognizing me in that moment and honoring me.”
