31,422 points! Durant surpasses Chamberlain to rise to 7th place in all-time scoring, with Nowitzki as the next target.

On January 10th Beijing time, the Rockets faced the Trail Blazers again away from home. Durant’s 17th point of the game brought his career regular season total to 31,422 points, overtaking Chamberlain’s 31,419 points and climbing to 7th place in NBA history scoring. The next player he aims to pass is Nowitzki (31,560 points), and given the narrow margin, Durant is expected to achieve this milestone in upcoming matches.

Last month, Durant became the eighth player in the league to surpass 31,000 career points. At that time, he admitted that standing alongside legends like LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Nowitzki, and Chamberlain meant a lot to him.

Before this game, Durant was asked about the topic of surpassing Chamberlain’s scoring record. He said, “By the time I got into basketball and started learning the game, Chamberlain had long retired. Most people’s impressions of him come from those stats — a series of cold, hard numbers.”

“Since I was a kid, I’ve always heard legendary stories about Chamberlain, but I never saw him play. When you look at those numbers, it’s hard to imagine someone scoring 50 points, grabbing 25 rebounds, scoring effortlessly, and dominating rebounds and blocks in every way.”

“So you can’t help but want to measure yourself against him, to chase his achievements as much as possible. Being among the top ten scorers in history with him is already incredible, and now having the chance to surpass him feels amazing.”

“Being counted in the same group as these players, having my name listed alongside theirs, is really cool. They have been role models I’ve looked up to since childhood, people I tried to emulate, who set the standards for my hard work. So, moving up from being behind Chamberlain to now having the opportunity to pass him and climb further up the list is truly awesome.”

According to the latest all-time scoring list, Durant is expected to finish his career ranked 4th in history, surpassing Kobe Bryant. Currently, there is a gap of over 2,200 points between them. Passing 3rd place Karl Malone will be much more difficult, as Malone’s total is 36,928 points, more than 5,500 points ahead.

Where do you think Durant will ultimately rank in all-time scoring? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.