Our man Shaq fell one rung down the list of all-time NBA scorers this week, but he was pretty chill with it. In fact, he even congratulated the guy that moved ahead of him.
In a game this week, Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant passed O’Neal to take over the number 8 spot on the list of all-time point-scoring in the Association. It happened in this past Wednesday’s game (as of this posting date) against the Philadelphia 76ers. Going into the game, Durant was just eight points behind Shaq on the all-time list.
It didn’t take long into the contest for Durant to jump up that all-time scoring ladder, and he went on to have a good game against Philly. The guy they call the Slim Reaper went 10-of-18 shooting from the floor, and finished the game with 22 points, aiding his time in their 115–102 win in the East.
The BIG Podcast with SHAQ
So now, with a couple more games this past week, Durant (again, as of this writing) sits at 28,629 point in the books. That passed Shaq, who finished his career with 28,596, taking over that number 8 spot on the list.
As for the official Shaq react, it was all good. On TNT’s Inside the NBA after the game, O’Neal sent a nice message of congrats, along with a bit of a challenge to keep up the good work.
Shaq: “First of all, I want to say congratulations for passing me to become eighth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, well deserved. But you know it doesn’t stop here. I probably see you at—let’s see if you can get to number one.” Number one? That’s a pretty tall order, with some big number still ahead.
More from Shaq: “Congratulations, brother, job well done. I knew it was gonna get done, if anybody was going to pass me, it was definitely going to be you.”
Can he get to number one on the all-time scoring list? Like we said, there’s a lot of point-scoring real estate still ahead on that journey. Currently, Lakers superstar and long-time Iron Man LeBron James holds down the all-time Number One spot on the list with an incredible tally of 40,179 points. That’s a huge 11 thousand-plus points differential! Can it be done? Sure. But Durant will have to stay healthy and productive for many more years to approach that giant-sized (should we say Shaq-sized?) number.
As for Durant’s next target – the next man up, if you will – that’s legendary big man and Hall-of-Famer Wilt Chamberlain. At number 7 on the list, Wilt is less than three thousand points ahead. His career total stands at 31,419 points.
Durant is averaging 27.3 points a game over the entire length of his NBA career. He shoots and even 50% from the floor, and 38.7% from behind the 3 point line). With this season winding down, it’ll certainly take another season to catch Chamberlain. He’ll have to stay healthy and keep up the minutes, too.
Hats off to KD… we look forward to your ongoing path through the NBA record book.