Watching from afar, Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant showed his appreciation for another influential player in the NBA who achieved a monumental milestone.
Coming into last night’s game against the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James needed just nine points to record 40,000 in his 21-year career.
As he drove into the paint for a layup, he reached the massive feat at 10:39 of the second quarter. James posted 26 points, nine assists and four rebounds in a 124-114 loss to Denver.
What made this milestone bittersweet was that James eclipsed it on the 62nd anniversary of NBA Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain’s remarkable 100-point game.
While plenty of celebrities, athletes and fans around the world congratulated him, Durant also shared the sentiment on how special James and this record truly are.
Insane, congrats to Lebron [James],” Durant said after the Suns lost 118-108 to the Houston Rockets last night. “Just continuing to set the bar high for everybody. Been so impressed with his enthusiasm at 39 years old. For him to keep going, that says a lot to every basketball player in the world right now. What he is doing right now is inspiring, so congrats to him. I know he is not going to stop, he’s got more to do. He is going to set the bar high for everybody coming after him. We appreciate him being the face of the league for the last 20 years, he set a good precedent for us.
Fellow Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the previous NBA scoring leader with 38,387 points before Lebron surpassed him last season.
As for Durant, he has totaled 28,342 points so far in his career, sitting at No. 9.
When going up against one another, the Lakers took a five-game season series over the Suns (including the NBA In-Season Tournament), 3-2.
no signs of James retiring after this season, this historical run he has been on will keep chugging along until he eventually does call it quits.
