One month after LeBron James became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, Suns star Kevin Durant continued his own climb up the career points list, surpassing Oscar Robertson on Friday for 13th place.
Durant, 34, needed just four points against the Bulls to move beyond “Big O,” and he got them less than three minutes into the game with a pair of patented jump shots.
KD rises up for the middy to pass Oscar Robertson for 13th on the all-time scoring list!
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📺: https://t.co/1pomQZMAZK pic.twitter.com/bZGi2WhHR1— NBA (@NBA) March 4, 2023
Congrats to @KDTrey5 of the @Suns for moving up to 13th on the all-time scoring list! pic.twitter.com/4qP7Ov3SHi
— NBA (@NBA) March 4, 2023
Durant finished with an efficient 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting as Phoenix crushed Chicago 125-101, giving him 26,727 for his career.
He should climb even further in short order, with the next three players on the list — No. 12 Hakeem Olajuwon, No. 11 Elvin Hayes and No. 10 Moses Malone — sitting less than 1,000 points away. In Olajuwon’s case, Durant will almost certainly erase the 219-point gap by season’s end.
Durant’s rise reinforces his status as one of the most prodigious scorers in NBA history with four scoring titles and a 27.28-point average that ranks fourth all-time behind only record-holder Michael Jordan (30.12), No. 2 Wilt Chamberlain (30.07) and No. 3 Elgin Baylor (27.36).