Kevin Durant up to seventh in NBA scoring list, overtaking his idol

Now in his 18th season as a professional, the 37-year-old Kevin Durant remains an elite scorer in the NBA.

On Sunday night he reiterated his greatness with an 18-point performance for the Houston Rockets, taking his NBA tally to 31,562. That puts him two points ahead of Dirk Nowitzki (31,560) and into sixth in the all-time scoring list.

Durant made the milestone with two points from the free throw line with 15 seconds remaining. Speaking after the game, he paid tribute to Nowitzki as a “legend” of the game.

“To be up there with Dirk, somebody I looked up to, I idolized, I competed against,” Durant explained. “We had some great battles. He always was supportive of my career and my game. So, you know to be up there with a legend like that, it’s just insane. And be right under Michael Jordan, it’s crazy man.

“I want to continue to keep stacking, keep climbing up the charts, just see how I finish. It’s been amazing so far.”

Nowitzki pays tribute to "one of the purest scorers"

Born a decade later, Durant had a number of memorable matchups with Nowitzki during the early years of his career. Durant was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics, which became the Oklahoma City Thunder after his rookie season.

With the Thunder, Durant faced Nowitzki in the 2011 Western Conference finals. Nowitzki’s Dallas Mavericks came out 4-1 winners and beat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals to claim the team’s first championship. The following year, Durant got payback as the Thunder swept the Mavs in the postseason.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Durant said: “There were times going into a series I hated Dirk, you know what I’m saying. I’m sure it was vice versa.”

Now, however, things are very different. Two greats of the game, there is an obvious mutual respect between the two legends and Nowitzki paid tribute to Durant in a video message that was shown on the Rockets video board after Sunday’s game.

“It’s been incredible to watch his career,” Nowitzki said. “Like I said, he’s one of the purest scorers this game has ever seen. And so congrats KD, keep it going. Move up a couple more spots and keep it up.”

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