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Kevin Durant joins elite NBA club with 31,000 points milestone

Dec 5, 2025 | 5:47 PM

HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Durant became the eighth player in NBA history to reach 31,000 career points on Friday night in the Houston Rockets’ game against the Phoenix Suns.

He entered the game needing just four points to reach the mark. He made two free throws for his first points of the night before accomplishing it on a jump shot midway through the first quarter.

The 37-year-old Durant did it in his 1,141st career game, tying the NBA’s all-time leading scorer LeBron James for doing it in the third-fewest games behind Michael Jordan (1,011) and Wilt Chamberlain (1,015).

The other players to have scored at least 31,000 points are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki.

Durant, the second overall pick in the 2007 draft, is in his first season with the Rockets after this summer’s blockbuster trade from Phoenix.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Kristie Rieken, The Associated Press