Harry Murphy
Kevin Durant is a two-time NBA Champion and one-time MVP.
There have been dozens, hundreds even, of amazing scorers in the history of the NBA, but only a few have been able to keep up that production over the course of a long career. That is what makes the NBA’s all-time scoring list such an accomplishment; it distinguishes the great scorers from the transcendent ones.
A trend you notice when looking at a sample of the top 15 scorers in the NBA is that all but two were all-around players rather than just dynamic scorers. Inevitably, a player's scoring ability will decline as they get up in age and pass their prime, so in order to stay in starring roles, players with incredible longevity need to have all-around games. Take Carmelo Anthony as an example; he maintained his scoring ability for an extra long time, so he finds himself ninth all-time on this list, but right as his scoring was not at a superstar level, he flared out of the NBA. A player who only offers scoring to a team is not a valuable player unless their scoring can make up for all of their other faults. This is what makes entering the top ten all-time scorers magical. The all-time scoring list is more than an indication of all-time scorers, it is an indication of the greatest players of all time.
Kevin Durant passed Moses Malone in a 119-111 loss to the Denver Nuggets to enter the top ten. He scored a little less than 50 percent of his points with the Thunder and has scored the rest with the Warriors, Nets, and Suns. Durant is arguably the NBA’s most dynamic scorer of all time, scoring from all three levels at nearly seven feet tall. He is a trailblazer for the next generation of basketball, with more tall players with guard skills entering the NBA every year.
The question is, how far can Durant take this? He has dealt with injuries throughout his career, notably a broken foot and torn Achilles, so it is hard to imagine that he will play until his early 40s. However, Durant is quoted saying, “I want to play until I can’t no more,” so he clearly has no intention of retiring at his current age of 35. Durant’s best year saw him score 2600 points, but now, with injuries, those years are far behind him. A fair projection of around 1500 points for five to six more years could boost him into the top five and maybe even challenge Karl Malone for that third spot.
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