Kevin Durant has accomplished a lot in the NBA: He’s a nine-time All-Star, a four-time scoring champion and a two-time NBA Finals MVP.
But his latest feat left him smiling from ear to ear.
Durant passed Larry Bird on the NBA’s all-time scoring list Monday night in the Golden State Warriors’ 110-93 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Warriors star now sits in 33rd place with 21,806 points, just ahead of Bird, who racked up 21,791 points in his 13-year career with the Boston Celtics.
“Hell yeah. Somebody texted me after the game and showed me a screenshot and I was giddy like a little kid,” Durant told reporters after scoring a game-high 23 points.
“I grew up watching Larry Bird. Well, not really, he’s older, but you grew up kind of knowing the legend of Larry Legend. So to be amongst the greats, that’s all you really wanna do. It’s a great accomplishment. But I’ve got to keep going.”
Durant, like Bird, will go down as one of the best players in NBA history. The 30-year-old doesn’t see any similarities in their respective games, though, instead pointing to their preparation and how Bird influenced his idea of what was possible at the highest level.
“I don’t see any similarities. But just a love for the game, a love for practice and a love for shooting that I think is similar,” Durant said. “He allowed players like myself to kind of dream big and think big at that position and to do things that traditional small forwards, I guess, or big men weren’t doing.”
Next up on the scoring list: Gary Payton. Durant sits just seven points behind The Glove (21,813), so he could move up as soon as Wednesday when the Warriors face the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
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