The milestone basket came in the third quarter when Durant sank a jumper with just under eight minutes remaining, pushing the Houston forward’s career total to 31,445 points and lifting Durant above Chamberlain’s 31,419, achieved between 1959 and 1973.
Durant now closes in on Dirk Nowitzki, who holds sixth place on 31,560 points, and the Rockets star strengthens that chase with an average of 25.7 points per game this season, keeping Durant within range despite Houston’s defeat in Portland.
Speaking after the game, Durant reflected on passing one of basketball’s most famous names and stressed the importance of Chamberlain’s influence on the sport, while also pointing out how such landmarks remind Durant of the long route taken to this stage.
Durant said: To be among the greats is always an honour. Wilt is somebody I studied and tried to look up to as much as I could. Like I always say, he set a standard for NBA players and I’m grateful to reach that, and I’m inspired by what he produced for the game of basketball. These milestones always have me reflecting on the people that helped me get to this point, the journey that I’ve been through, the close calls and the things that could have gone south. So to be here, I’m very, very grateful, and Portland is such a classy, classy city for recognising me in that moment and honouring me.
The announcement of Durant’s new standing on the all-time scoring list was greeted with strong applause from fans inside the Moda Center, and Portland Trail Blazers coach Tiago Splitter walked over to embrace the Houston forward courtside following confirmation of the updated totals.
Splitter, who recalled watching Durant’s early days with the Oklahoma City Thunder, highlighted the consistency shown across many seasons, and pointed out that Durant continues to produce at a high level despite being in the latter stages of a long NBA career.
Splitter said: A young Kevin Durant, scoring 30 every night… he just keeps doing that, which is amazing, At his age, of course, he’s probably at the end of his career, but just doing that every night is just impressive.
Although the result went against Houston, the night underlined Durant’s standing within NBA history, as the veteran moved ahead of Chamberlain, drew closer to Nowitzki on the all-time scoring list, and received public recognition from both Portland supporters and Tiago Splitter for sustained scoring excellence.