Kevin Durant enters top 10 all-time scoring leaderboard, passing Moses Malone

Suns forward scores 27,410th career point to overtake Moses Malone for 10th on the all-time scoring list.

PHOENIX (AP) — Kevin Durant sometimes spends idle time surfing YouTube, checking out old clips of NBA greats.

The 35-year-old continues to earn his spot among them.

Durant moved into 10th place on the NBA’s career scoring list Friday night, passing Moses Malone in the second quarter of the Suns’ 119-111 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

“It’s a long journey to be up there, mentioned with the greats,” Durant said. “It takes a lot of work, a lot of preparation, a lot of people helping me get to this point.”

Durant hit the mark by driving the baseline for two points with 50.3 seconds left before halftime. Durant needed 17 points to pass Malone coming into the game — the 1,003rd of his career.

Durant finished with 30 points, but shot 8-for-25 from the field — going 0-for-10 in the second half. He pushed his career total to 27,423. Malone had 27,409 in the NBA after starting his professional career with two seasons in the ABA.

Durant said Malone is one of the more underrated players in the league’s history.

“As a basketball player, I think it’s our job to go back and know the history of the game and who paved the way for us,” Durant said.

The 6-foot-11 Durant is a 13-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion who has played for the SuperSonics/Thunder, Warriors, Nets and Suns. He played one season in college at Texas before being taken No. 2 overall in the 2007 NBA draft at 19 years old.

He’s been in the NBA for 17 seasons — missing a full year with an Achilles injury — and has averaged more than 27 points.

Durant is averaging 31.3 points, just off his career-high 32.0 ppg (achieved during his 2014 Kia MVP campaign), while delivering 51.8 FG%, 49.3 3P% and 89.6 FT% shooting splits. He passed Elvin Hayes to claim 11th on Nov. 21 against the Blazers.

LeBron James tops the scoring list with 39,124 points and is the only other active player in the top 25. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,397) is second, followed by Karl Malone (36,928), Kobe Bryant (33,643), Michael Jordan (32,292), Dirk Nowitzki (31,560), Wilt Chamberlain (31,419), Shaquille O’Neal (28,596) and Carmelo Anthony (28,289).

Durant is 13th on the combined NBA/ABA list, with former ABA stars Julius Erving eighth (30,026), Malone ninth (29,580) and Dan Issel 12th (27,482).

Carmelo Anthony is next – at 28,289 – with Shaquille O’Neal not far beyond that (28,596). If Durant maintains health and his current pace, Anthony should be in range at the end of January, with O’Neal on deck roughly 10 games later.

TOP 10 ALL-TIME.

Congrats, KD, on moving into 10th on the @NBA All-Time Scoring Leaderboard! pic.twitter.com/0wjKmq6fef

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) December 2, 2023