Kevin Durant passes Dirk and eyes MJ on all-time scoring list: How he's getting it done in Year 18

With 15.2 seconds remaining in the Houston Rockets' win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, the crowd inside the Toyota Center rose to its feet as Kevin Durant strode to the free-throw line. Durant received the ball from the ref, went through his normal routine and hit nothing but net on his first attempt. 

Free throws, even those that help seal a victory, don't usually deserve standing ovations, but with that make Durant passed Dirk Nowitzki to move into sixth place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. 

Ironically, Durant had one of his worst game of the season against the Pelicans -- 18 points on 5-of-18 shooting -- but he did enough to move up another rung on the all-time scoring ladder. Durant now has 31,562 career points, and only needs 731 to pass Michael Jordan and move into the top five. 

Sunday's poor shooting performance aside, Durant is putting together another incredible scoring season: 26.1 points per game on 51/39.3/88.7 shooting splits. At that pace, he'll need just 29 more games to pass Jordan. The Rockets have 42 games remaining in the season, and assuming Durant doesn't miss any significant time, he should move ahead of Jordan in mid- to late-March. 

Durant (again, assuming health) should have no trouble catching Bryant, who is 2,081 points ahead of him, at some point next season. It will be a number of years until the 37-year-old Durant has a chance to move into the top three, however. He needs 5,366 points to catch Malone, and may have to play into his 40s to do so. Whether he'll be willing or able to play that long remains to be seen. 

"To be up there with Dirk, somebody I looked up to, I idolized, I competed against. We had some great battles. He always was supportive of my career and my game. So, you know to be up there with a legend like that, it's just insane. And be right under Michael Jordan, it's crazy man, Durant said. 

"I want to continue to keep stacking, keep climbing up the charts, just see how I finish. It's been amazing so far."

Let's take a closer look at how Durant is putting together yet another incredible season for the Rockets, who have won three of their last four to climb back into fifth place in the crowded Western Conference at 25-15. 

KD is still incredibly efficient

Durant's historic efficiency has long been his calling card. At 24 years old he became the joint-youngest player (along with Mark Price) to join the 50/40/90 club -- 50% shooting overall, 40% from 3-point range and 90% on free throws -- and is one of three players (along with Larry Bird and Steve Nash) to have multiple 50/40/90 seasons. His 29.1 points per game in 2023 are also the third-most by a player in a 50/40/90 season. 

Once again, Durant is within striking distance of a 50/40/90 season and has been one of the league's most efficient scorers. His 26.1 points per game rank 13th in the league. Of the top 15 scorers, only Nikola Jokić (60.5%) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (54.7%) have a better field goal percentage than Durant, who has made 51% of his attempts. (Giannis Antetokounmpo has not played enough games to qualify for the official leaderboards, but he has also been more efficient than Durant.) 

Just look at his shot chart. The NBA's stat site breaks things down in 14 specific areas of the floor. Durant is only below the league average on right wing 3s. 

Tough shot-making

Few players make difficult shots look as easy as Durant, who, in his 18th season, is still among the league's best in this department. 

Durant is fourth in the league in mid-range attempts at 5.6 per game, and making 49.5% of them. Of the five players averaging at least five such attempts, only Gilgeous-Alexander (50.5%) has been more efficient. 

Durant often acts as a safety valve for the Rockets' offense, which lacks a true point guard and spacing. As a result, he's tied for ninth in the league in late shot clock attempts (0-4 seconds remaining) per game at 1.9. Remarkably, he's shooting 50% on those attempts. No one else in the top-10 is shooting better than 44.3% (Jalen Brunson). 

Furthermore, the NBA has a new stat called expected field goal percentage, which uses a "Shot Difficulty" rating to measure the expected field goal percentage for the average NBA player on every shot. You can then compare a player's expected field goal percentage to their actual field goal percentage to get an idea of which players are best at making tough shots. To no surprise, Durant is right near the top. His expected field goal percentage is 43.9%, but he's shooting 51%. +7.1% differential ranks sixth in the league. 

However you want to slice it, Durant's shot-making has once again been incredible. 

Aging with grace

Durant was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, and has spent nearly half of his life in the league. While most of his peers are out of the league or relegated to bit roles off the bench, Durant is likely going to make his 16th All-Star appearance, which would move him into fourth place on the all-time list, behind only LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant. 

Few players in NBA history have ever matched what Durant is doing at this stage of their career. 

No one has averaged more points in their 18th season. The only other players to average at least 26 points per game at 37 or older are James and Steph Curry. The only other players to average at least 18 shots per game and shoot 50% or better after turning 35 are James and Karl Malone. 

"It means a great deal to be around the league for this long. I mean, it takes playing a thousand-plus games to be in this category, at least," Durant said Sunday. "I'm grateful for all the people that have helped me play this many games -- coaches, friends, family that invested in my game. You know how it goes. Without them, without the village, I wouldn't be here. I don't do anything on my own. Never have, never will. It's great to kind of celebrate that with them."