HOUSTON — With a clutch 3-pointer late in Saturday’s home win over Miami, Rockets star Kevin Durant passed NBA legend Michael Jordan for the No. 5 spot on the league’s all-time scoring list.
Durant (32,294 career points) scored a team-high 27 points at Toyota Center, and Houston needed every one of them on a night when the game wasn’t decided until Amen Thompson’s winning tip shot as time expired.
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It’s the latest bit of history in a milestone season for Durant, who in January passed two Hall of Famers in Wilt Chamberlain (No. 8, 31,419 points) and Dirk Nowitzki (No. 7, 31,560 points).
Now, at 37 years old and in his 19th professional season, Durant has passed Jordan — a six-time champion who is considered by many to be the greatest player in basketball history.
Coincidentally, the next game on Houston’s schedule comes Monday night in Chicago, where Jordan (32,292 points) played the majority of his storied career with the Bulls.
As for the all-time list, the next target for Durant is Kobe Bryant (33,643 points), who ranks fourth. Because the gap is more than 1,000 points, it seems the soonest Durant could climb to that spot would be in the 2026-27 season.
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At 43-27, the 2025-26 Rockets have only 12 regular-season games left to play. Should Durant play in all of them, his current scoring average of 25.7 points per game would net him approximately 300 more points from this season.
The top three on the all-time list are LeBron James (43,229 and counting), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points), and Karl Malone (36,928 points).
More: Kevin Durant passes Dirk Nowitzki for No. 6 in all-time NBA scoring
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Kevin Durant passes Michael Jordan for No. 5 in all-time NBA points