Kevin Durant and LeBron James have been two of the best players in basketball for nearly two decades. James has been in the league since 2003, while Durant joined in 2007.
Throughout their careers, they have also been rivals. They have faced each other in the NBA Finals three times, with Durant holding a 2-1 advantage in those matchups. Durant has one MVP award and three runner-up finishes, all of which went to James.
Despite playing the same position for most of their careers and often being compared as arguably the two best players in the game during the 2010s, Durant and James have maintained a mutual respect for one another.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) against Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) at Footprint Center.
© Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
That respect was evident on Tuesday as Durant joined James and seven other players in scoring 30,000 points in their careers. James is the all-time leading scorer and the only player to surpass 40,000 points. After the game, Durant was asked if he believed he would reach 40,000 points in his career. He replied that he wasn’t sure if he would ever achieve that milestone.
“How many years do you think that would take?” Durant asked. “You got to get, what, two thousand points a year? I don’t know if I can get there. That’s what makes LeBron’s rise to the top pretty special. He stays healthy. He stays consistent. I’m just going to try to stay consistent and see what happens, man.”
James has scored nearly 42,000 points in his career. He is in his 22nd season and has achieved the remarkable feat of scoring 25 or more points per game for 20 consecutive seasons, which is an NBA record. However, this year, he is averaging 24.4 points per game, which would break that streak.
On the other hand, Durant averages 1,765 points each season and is just shy of 10,000 points away from reaching 40,000. If he continues at this pace, the 36-year-old would need to play just over five more seasons. By then, he would be a year older than James, who is currently 40 years old.
Durant has the potential to reach that milestone eventually. However, he aims to maintain consistency and will see what happens at the end of his career.