Why 31,000 Points Is Crazy To Everyone But Kevin Durant — Legendary Confidence, Midnights at the Park and Rockets Joy

The number seems unfathomable even to other upper all-star level players like Amen Thompson, almost like a beacon from another planet. Thirty one thousand points. Actually 31,024 points now and counting  The company Kevin Durant is in is beyond historic. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, Dirk Nowitzki. Guys who all have statues outside of arenas (with LeBron’s in Cleveland already in the works.) Now Kevin Durant makes it an exclusive club of eight.

“It’s kind of hard to wrap my mind. . . ” Thompson says when I ask him about that 31,000 number. “I know it’s a lot because he’s been in the league so long. I know it got to be a lot. But I’m like ‘Could I do that?’ You know. But he’s different.

“He’s one of the best scorers of all time. For how many years has he been in the league? Eighteen, nineteen. Bro. OK, yeah. It’s crazy though. It’s a crazy amount of points.”

The only who does not seemed bowed, fazed or floored by the number is Kevin Durant himself. He always thought this was possible, fueled by a belief that he could do anything on the basketball court he put his mind to doing. As long as he worked hard enough at it.

“That’s how I’ve been since 2008, 2009,” Durant says when I ask what that 31,000 number and being with the seven other players associated with it means to him. “I’ve been focused on being the best player I can be. And they set a standard for each player as they left the league. I try to live up to that standard. I won’t say I’m trying to compete with them or overtake them. But guys like Wilt, Michael, Kobe. . . they just set a standard I’ve been trying to reach every day.

“I didn’t look at it as something that was out of my realm. I just felt like if I locked in, and did what I did, I could be mentioned in the same breath as those guys. That’s the confidence I had.”

It’s a remarkable admission, a glimpse into what makes Kevin Durant. . . well, Kevin Durant. When even other elite NBA players see the absurdity of 31,000 points, Durant always saw a path. He made one.

That Durant is reaching these milestones in a Rockets uniform is a treat that any Houston sports fan should be thrilled by. The chance to watch one of the greatest basketball players of all time, still at or close to the peak of his powers in his 19th season, represents a rare front row seat to history.

“I didn’t look at it as something that was out of my realm. I just felt like if I locked in, and did what I did, I could be mentioned in the same breath as those guys. That’s the confidence I had.” — Kevin Durant

Controlling the Game

Durant doesn’t just move into the 31.000 point club on this Friday night at the Toyota Center. He does it on a night when he completely shifts the game the Rockets way in the second quarter. A night when he drops 28 points and eight assists on the Phoenix Suns without playing a minute in the fourth quarter.

Kevin Durant is a basketball maestro commanding a game like it’s an orchestra, never seemingly hitting a bad note. He always seems to make the right basketball play, over and over again. He can get his shot off whenever he wants. Yet he still hits the open man even when he’s offensively rolling himself.

After scoring 11 straight second quarter points, including two straight old fashioned 3-point plays, he hits cutting teammates for layups on two straight possession. It is enough to leave a would be defender feeling like he’s a string being toyed with by a cat.

This is the Kevin Durant Experience. Whether it’s Year Five or Year 19.

“All the greats,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka says. “Timmy (Duncan) being one of them. But just keep it simple. You look at a guy like (Nikola) Jokić or whoever it is nowadays. They let the game dictate what they’re going to do.

“They’re not trying to split or beat double teams all day. They get it to their guys and whether they get an assist or a hockey assist, they’re fine with that. Like I said from day one here, we’ve got to expect a lot of blitzes on him. We’re kind of well schooled in that now so we know how to get to our spacing and our spots.

“He just needs to deliver the ball.”

Durant has delivered it to the tune of 16 assists over the last two games, two more Rockets wins for the team that let those 22-1 Thunder off the mat in that instant classic of season opener, a sign of how the gap at the top in the West may not be anywhere close to as large as some assume.

Kevin Durant leaves his 31,000 point night thinking of his “mom letting me be outside till midnight playing ball at the park.” He talks about being grateful that Udoka, the coach he bonded with in Brooklyn because of how closely they saw the game, is his head coach in Houston now. About h0w having talented teammates like Thompson (31 points) who are just beginning to discover everything they can do gets him going too.

This 31,000-plus point man has always seen basketball as a larger canvas, full of possibilities waiting to be seized. Kevin Durant always somehow pictured himself getting here. Then made it happen with one of the most precise and dedicated training routines in basketball history.

“I knew it was going to be a tough journey,” Durant says, holding the mic casually, comfortable on any stage. “I’ve got more to do. I’m grateful to still be playing.”

On a night when the Rockets play two classy heartfelt tribute videos to former Houston players turned Suns (both in the trade for Durant) Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, Kevin Durant’s historic milestone gets a simple effective scoreboard graphic, showing him standing among the other seven 31,000 point scorers in NBA history. Durant does not need more than that on this night. That’s not this Easy Money Sniper’s style.

He still sees all the possibilities ahead. That’s part of why he’s Kevin Durant. He expects more.