Wednesday was a night of celebrations for Kevin Durant as his Phoenix Suns beat the Philadelphia 76ers and he also earned a place in NBA history.
During that game, Durant passed Shaquille O’Neal for eighth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
Always a class act, O’Neal recorded a video message for Durant, celebrating his accomplishment and congratulating him.
In a video shared by NBA on TNT, O’Neal praised Durant for surpassing him on the list but said that he expects even more and challenged him to reach the top spot.
“If anybody was gonna pass me, it was definitely gonna be you,” the iconic big man said before starting a round of applause.
The Big Fella's message to KD after passing him on the all-time scoring list 💯 pic.twitter.com/3WBKsI6TVI
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 21, 2024
During his career, O’Neal scored 28,596 points during 1,207 games.
Durant passed that total in just 1,047 games.
He now sits right behind Wilt Chamberlain who had 31,419 during his years in the NBA.
Of course, LeBron James is the current leader of the league, holding more than 40,000 career points and adding more and more every single game.
While Durant may be able to surpass Chamberlain soon, his chances of catching up with James are slim, especially since the Los Angeles Lakers star is still playing a lot of minutes.
During Wednesday’s game, Durant was once again one of the most important players for his team, scoring 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.
The Suns are currently poised to enter the Play-In Tournament in a few weeks because they are in eighth place in the West with a 40-29 record.
A loss in that tournament would be seen as a huge disappointment to fans who expected so much from the Suns this year.
Therefore, Durant needs to keep playing well and racking up a ton of points in order to help his team keep its postseason hopes alive.
NEXT: Skip Bayless Has Strong Reaction After Suns Lose To Bucks