Kevin Durant passes Hakeem Olajuwon for 12th place on scoring list / News - Basketnews.com

Kevin Durant scored 39 points against the Lakers, moving to 12th place in the NBA all-time scoring list. Durant has a chance to reach the top 10 by the end of the season.

Credit: Reuters-Scanpix Credit Reuters-Scanpix

Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant scored a game-high 39 points in a 100-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.

Player of the Game EFF 38 Anthony Davis Points 30 Accuracy 10-17 Rebounds 12 Assists 2

In the process, the future Hall of Famer passed Hakeem Olajuwon for 12th on the all-time scoring list.

Late in the fourth quarter, Durant drove hard to the basket while colliding with Austin Reaves. Durant managed to make the tough bucket to surpass Olajuwon.

"I really admire his game and his journey as a man and as a basketball player...it's always amazing to be amongst the greats," Durant said about his achievement.

Last season, Durant amassed 1,366 points in 47 games, which was more or less on pace with his previous season (1,643 points in 55 games in ’21-22).

If Durant scores about 1,600 points this season, he’d have enough to pass Carmelo Anthony (28,289) for No. 9 on the scoring list. A healthy season with 2,000 or more points would give him more than enough to pass Shaquille O’Neal (28,596) for the No. 8 spot.

Lastly, Durant needs 3,108 more points to become the eighth member of the 30,000-point club.

NBA All-time scoring leaders

No. Player Points scored 1. LeBron James 38,694 2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387 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. Shaquille O'Neal 28,596 9. Carmelo Anthony 28,289 10. Moses Malone 27,409 11. Elvin Hayes 27,313 12. Kevin Durant 26,949 13. Hakeem Olajuwon 26,946 Thank you for reading us! We have even more content for you.