CHICAGO – Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant passed Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson for 13th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list in the first quarter of Friday’s game at Chicago.
With 26,712 career points, Durant is the only player in the top 15 who has played fewer than 1,000 games. He was at 979 going into the matchup against the Bulls at the United Center.
“Every time he shoots the ball, it’s just so effortless,” Suns All-Star Devin Booker said. “You can see defenders trying their hardest to contest or fight over a screen. He just looks unbothered, unphased.”
At age 34, Durant is second among active NBA players in all-time scoring behind the all-time leader, LeBron James, who has 38,450.
The next three are James Harden (24,477), Russell Westbrook (24,181) and Chris Paul (21,505).
So, the Suns have two of the top five all-time active scorers in Durant and Paul.
The next question is can Durant reach the top five all-time list by the time his contract expires in the 2025-26 season?
Before going any further, here’s the top five all-time.
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LeBron James – 38,450 points
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – 38,387
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Karl Malone – 36,928
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Kobe Bryant – 33,643
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Michael Jordan – 32,292
Passing James, Abdul-Jabbar and Malone will be mission impossible for Durant.
Bryant is closer, but hard to catch, too. However, Durant could very well pass Jordan by the end of the 2025-26 regular season.
Here’s how:
Durant is 5,585 points behind Jordan with 19 games left this season.
Barring injury, as he’s coming off a right MCL sprain, say Durant plays 15 games this season and averages 27 points.
Just picked a number at random. He’d have 27,112 points. That would push him past Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, who is at 26,946 points.
With 27,112 points, Durant would be 6,531 points behind Bryant and 5,180 behind Jordan with three seasons remaining on his contract.
So say he played an average of 65 games his next three years. That’s taking into account his age, the injuries and just how a season could go.
He’d have to essentially average 34 points to pass Bryant and 27 to pass Jordan.
Durant is averaging 29.5 points this season. Could see that number dropping a couple of points playing with Booker, but he could definitely pass Jordan for fifth all-time.
So finally, the last question is can he catch Bryant or Jordan for championships playing for Phoenix?
Jordan won six. Bryant finished with five.
Durant has two.
The idea of him winning four in a row with the Suns seems so crazy, but he should at least get one, if not two. That’d tie him with James.
That’d be something, too.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Can Kevin Durant pass Michael Jordan on the NBA all-time scoring list?
