Few have gotten their NBA buckets as effortlessly and consistently as Kevin Durant. The 6-foot-10 forward is quickly closing in on that select group.
Durant eclipsed 23,000 career points in Brooklyn’s Sunday game against Charlotte on a 14-foot pullup jumper with 5:30 left in the second quarter. The 852 games he needed to reach the milestone are the ninth-fewest in league history.
| Player | Games needed to score 23,000 points |
| Wilt Chamberlain | 606 |
| Michael Jordan | 717 |
| Oscar Robertson | 806 |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 809 |
| Allen Iverson | 830 |
| Jerry West | 833 |
| Elgin Baylor | 834 |
| LeBron James | 837 |
| Kevin Durant | 852 |
| Shaquille O’Neal | 857 |
Overall, Durant finished with 29 points (9-15 FG), three rebounds and four assists in the 106-104 loss. Aside from his 23,000-point milestone, Durant also made some Nets history in the game alongside his superstar teammate, guard Kyrie Irving. Thanks to Irving’s 25-point night, he and Durant became the first pair of Nets to score 20 or more points in each of the team’s first three games.
First duo in Nets history to score 20+ points in each of the team's first three games of a season ➡️@KyrieIrving ▪️ @KDTrey5 pic.twitter.com/7IqwuyMBqc
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) December 28, 2020
Durant’s surge through the record books comes despite playing just 27 games in 2014-15 and missing the entire 2019-20 season due to injury. The former Kia MVP and 10-time All-Star appears fully recovered from the torn Achilles that kept him sidelined last season, a prospect that could vault his new team, the Nets, into title contention.
