Kevin Durant breaks another record this season after he passes Kevin Garnett in the All-time NBA scoring leaderboard in the 18th spot.
As of today, KD now has a total of 26,074 career points, just 3,926 points shy from the prestigious 30k milestone. The 12-time All-Star takes over Kevin Garnett (26,071) after their win against the Toronto Raptors on Wedsneday evening.
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The road to 30k points
Durant may be near or already at the end of his prime at 34 years old. However, he is still playing like a legit superstar and is still the scoring machine he once was back in the day.
This season – through 18 games – KD is averaging 29.8 points, 5.3 assists, and 6.5 rebounds. Except for his rookie year, the Slim Reaper never averaged anywhere below 25 points per contest.
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Granted that he does not get seriously injured and continues this level of play, the future Hall-of-Famer could join the 30k club if:
- Averages at least 20 points per game for the next 197 games, which is about 2 and a half 82-game seasons. However, KD has never played a full season since his Achilles injury in 2019. He only played 35 games in 2020 and then 55 games the following year. At this rate, the Brooklyn Nets superstar is looking at somewhere between 3 to 4 seasons to reach the 30k milestone. By then, Durant would be 38.
- If he averages his usual output of more than 25 ppg, that means he could hasten his achievement and reach 30,000 career points in just 157 games which is between 2 to 3 seasons.
Durant continues to be great, and this season, he’s proving he is still a top 5 player in the league. Even after suffering a what seemed to be a career injury 3 years ago, the 2013 MVP quickly recovered and went back to his old self.
It won’t be surprising if in a few years from now, we will be seeing KD join the elite group in the 30k club consisting of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malon, Dirk Nowitzki, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, and Michael Jordan.
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Can Kevin Durant win MVP this season?
The 2022-2023 MVP ladder has been consistently a tight battle between two European stars – Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Luka is averaging ridiculous numbers this year while Giannis is playing like your usual MVP.
Meanwhile, Durant still has a lot of gas left in his tank. Mostly being the sole superstar of the team due to Kyrie’s absence due to his controversy and Ben Simmons’ underperformance, Durant is still making the Brooklyn Nets win. Although he is averaging almost 30 points a game, the Nets are below 0.500 and are the 11th team in the East, hence why KD is currently not in the MVP conversation.
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Do you agree that KD may reach this milestone before he retires? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. For more content, stay with us, here at Spiel Times.
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