Houston Rockets All-Star forward Kevin Durant is one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, but he has never recorded a 60-point game. His career-high score is 55, but his pace and legacy are far more important for the 19-year-old veteran. Only Los Angeles Lakers All-Star LeBron James can match Durant's longevity and dominance as Kevin approaches his second decade in the association.
According to Michael Lee of The Ringer, Durant explained why he was never interested in scoring 60 points in a game.
“I'm in this for the long term, man,” Durant said. "I just want to win the game and go home. I know it's been a talking point for me: 'You don't have 60, 70.' You can't just look at a 60-point game and say, 'That's what KD is all about.' You have to look at my entire career and analyze what I actually did to understand the type of player I am. I like it that way.
"It's like a story that way. I didn't want to be a flash in the pan. I just wanted to be consistently great. I don't have a 60, but that's a lot of stats I've made up on my own."
Durant is the only player in NBA history to finish a season with 56.0/40.4/91.9 percent shooting splits, a feat he accomplished in 2022-23. Kevin says it's a testament to the sacrifices he's made to pursue his career, abandoning friends, partying and having fun. However, in order to persist, he realized that he had left nothing behind.
Kevin Durant on his NBA scoring legacy
Rockets All-Star Kevin Durant was double-teamed by the Lakers in Monday's 100-92 loss. That's the kind of treatment you get when you're one of the game's elite scorers. Durant finished with 18 points on 8-for-16 shooting.
Aside from Lakers All-Star LeBron James, Durant is the only NBA player to average 25+ points for such a long period of time, which is indicative of his consistent approach.
As Lee said, "He and LeBron are the only players to average at least 25 points for more than 12 seasons." “Durant has never played a game in which he made more than 19 field goals and averaged fewer than 19 shots per game in his career. On the night he scored a career-high 55 points, he took only 28 shots. On the night he scored a career-high 55 points, he took only 28 shots.
He reached 32,000 points in fewer games than any player other than Jordan. To which Durant asked, "What's more important to some people – that or 60 points?" Durant remains the youngest NBA scoring champion and the youngest player to win three consecutive scoring titles.
Durant has always played the long game.
