Aurélie Sacchelli, Media365, published on Thursday March 21, 2024 at 12:34 p.m.
In Phoenix’s 102-115 victory at Philadelphia on Wednesday, Kevin Durant became the eighth-leading scorer in NBA history, surpassing Shaquille O’Neal.
Since the start of the season, Kevin Durant had already surpassed Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone and Carmelo Anthony in the ranking of the best NBA scorers in the regular season. This Wednesday, it’s Shaquille O’Neal’s turn to be overtaken by “KD”. The Suns superstar only had eight points to score to tie “Shaq.” He scored 22 in Phoenix’s 102-115 victory at Philadelphia to bring his total to 28,610 points. “I’m just grateful to be in the category of greats,” Durant said during the post-game press conference. “We all know what Shaq meant to the game of basketball. He’s a great, great honor to be at his side.” Shaquille O’Neal responded via video message: “Congratulations on overtaking me on the list of top scorers. It’s very deserved. You know it’s not going to stop there. We’ll see if you can reach first place (smile). I’m happy for you.”
Objective Chamberlain
First place is currently occupied by LeBron James and his 40,179 points, which seem untouchable. Aged 35, Kevin Durant is averaging 27.7 points per game this season. Before aiming for LeBron James’ record, he will try to catch up with Wilt Chamberlain, who precedes him in the rankings. To do this, he will need 102 matches, and therefore wait until the start of the 2025-26 season, provided he maintains this points average despite the years that pass, and not be injured., which remains the Achilles heel of Kevin Durant, who will exceed the mark of 60 regular season games this season, which has not happened to him since 2019. On the other hand, he would need 418 games to exceed the current total of LeBron James, a little over five full seasons. Impossible mission ?
BEST SCORERS IN REGULAR SEASON HISTORY
Wednesday March 20, 2024
1- LeBron James : 40 179 points
2- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 38 397
3- Karl Malone : 36 928
4- Kobe Bryant : 33 643
5- Michael Jordan : 32 292
6- Dirk Nowitzki : 31 560
7- Wilt Chamberlain : 31 419
8- Kevin Durant : 28 610
9- Shaquille O’Neal : 28 596
10- Carmelo Anthony : 28 289
…
57- Tony Parker : 19 473
…
2024-03-21 11:34:00
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