After eclipsing 30,000 career points in the win over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday, Kobe Bryant was asked the question on whether or not he believes Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder can reach that scoring milestone at some point in his career.
An intriguing question and honest answer from the five-time NBA champion via Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News:
“If he continues to fill them up the way he has been, I think he can,” Bryant said. “I’m not really a mathematical person by any stretch of the imagination. So I can’t calculate how many years it will and what he will need to average. But it seems possible.”
With three straight scoring titles won by Durant, the Thunder’s superstar has begun to hit his stride in Oklahoma City as the undisputed leader of his team. Although Kobe continues to lead the league in scoring with 28.0 points per game, Durant isn’t far behind the 34-year-old Bryant at 26.5.
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Only five full seasons into his NBA career and 19 games into the 2012-13 season, Durant is already a third of the way there with 10,481 points. If it weren’t for the shortened 66-game season last year, the up-and-comer may be closer to 11,000 career points at this point in the season.
There’s no question that if Durant stays healthy throughout the rest of his career in the league while continuing to play at a high level in the scoring department similar to Kobe, the superstar forward will definitely be on his way in terms of climbing up the NBA’s all-time scoring list with reaching 30,000 or more a realistic possibility.
