Kevin Durant vs. Michael Jordan: How Rockets star passed NBA legend on all-time scoring list

Kevin Durant made NBA scoring history on Saturday night. He passed arguably the NBA's best-ever player to do so.

The Rockets standout has long been known for his scoring prowess. He enshrined his plaudits with a standout showing against the Heat, producing 25 points to lead Houston to a 123-122 win on Saturday.

The flourish proved noteworthy for Durant, who surpassed Michael Jordan for fifth on the NBA's all-time scoring charts.

With that, here's a look at how Durant's numbers compare to Jordan and the NBA's other grandest scorers.

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NBA all-time points list

With his latest scoring outburst, Durant settled into fifth place on the all-time scoring list. He's the second-highest scoring active player in the league, only bested by his elder, LeBron James. Durant will need quite the flourish to get beyond James, who sits more than 10,000 points above Durant.

Durant is one of six active players who sit inside the top-20 all-time scoring list. Cavaliers star James Harden should join Durant and Co. in the 30,000-point club before long -- he sits less than 1,000 points from the accolade.

Stats as of March 22.

How many seasons has Kevin Durant played in NBA?

Durant has spent 18 seasons in the league, entering basketball's top-flight in 2007. Selected No. 2 overall in the 2007 NBA Draft, Durant has shined across five different stops and six different cities. He spent his first season in Seattle before moving to Oklahoma City when the franchise relocated.

There, he captivated the masses, accruing five first-team All-NBA appearances, four scoring titles and an MVP in 2013-14.

Durant famously parted ways with the Thunder ahead of the 2015, taking his talents to Golden State. The accolades kept piling for Durant, who captured two NBA titles across three years in the Bay Area. A torn Achilles brought Durant's Warriors tenure to a premature end; he joined the Nets while recovering, returning to action during the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season. The last seven years of Durant's career have been marked by their transitory nature -- Durant has suited up for three teams in that spell, landing in Phoenix via trade in 2023.

Durant repeated the feat two years later, arriving in H-Town in another blockbuster deal.

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How many seasons did Michael Jordan play in NBA?

Jordan played 15 seasons in the NBA, although his career technically spanned from 1984 to 2003.

Jordan was fairly durable across his time in the league, playing at least 78 games in 11 of his first 13 seasons. His robustness waned as he aged. But he lasted fairly long

Kevin Durant games played

All told, Durant has played 1,190 regular-season games in his NBA career. He ranks No. 56 on the all-time games played list, three short of 55th-place Alex English. Durant is one of 18 active players to have recorded at least 1,000 games played.

It will take him some time if he hopes to pass the sport's all-time most prolific player in terms of appearances. LeBron James has more than 400 games on his ticker, equivalent to more than five 82-game seasons.

Michael Jordan games played

Jordan cleared the 1,000 games played plateau. But he fell short of 1,100 contests, finishing his professional career with 1,072 regular-season games played. That total would've been longer had Jordan not spent the better part of five years on the pine. In 1993, he stepped away from the hardwood in favor of the baseball diamond, only returning for the final 17 games of the 1994-95 season.

Jordan's return brought about additional hardware -- he led the Bulls to a trio of titles from 1996-1998, appearing to finish his career in style after canning "The Shot" to sink the Jazz. He disappeared into the sunset following his famous make, only to return three years later as a member of the Wizards. His time in Washington didn't go too well; Jordan's numbers dwindled precipitously. Nevertheless, his two-year stint did help him join the 1,000-games played club,