Kevin Durant and James Harden, proven right here on the 2025 All-Star Recreation, rank among the many NBA’s Prime 10 scorers.
It was Oct. 28, 2009, when Kevin Durant and James Harden first shared an NBA court docket.
That night time in Oklahoma Metropolis, in a 102-89 win in opposition to Sacramento, Durant, who was in his third season, scored a team-high 25 factors, whereas rookie Harden completed with 5 factors in 13 minutes off the bench in his NBA debut.
Tonight they are going to share the court docket once more when Harden’s Clippers go to Durant’s Rockets (8 p.m. ET, NBA League Move). Since that 2009 recreation, Harden has amassed 28,298 extra factors and Durant has added 27,531 to his complete, too.
This will probably be their first assembly with each gamers sitting within the high 10 of the NBA’s all-time scoring checklist. On Dec. 6, Harden handed Carmelo Anthony to affix that elite group of scorers, sooner or later after Durant grew to become the eighth participant to attain 31,000 profession factors.
Durant used a single phrase in an Instagram story publish to have fun Harden’s achievement: “Legendary.”
Harden’s ideas on the achievement additionally started with a single phrase: “Blessing.”
“A testomony to the work I’ve put in,” he continued. “It’s an honor, particularly with any person like ‘Melo who’s completed a lot for this league.”
Because the chart above illustrates, each gamers have extra strikes to make over the rest of this season.
Durant has an opportunity to climb as excessive as fifth place this season – needing 369 to go Wilt Chamberlain for seventh, 510 to go Dirk Nowitzki for sixth and 1,242 to go Michael Jordan for fifth. Along with his present scoring common (25.3 ppg), Durant would want 15 video games to go Chamberlain, 21 to go Nowitzki and 50 to go Jordan (Houston has 61 video games left in 2025-26).
Harden has yet another transfer he could make as he wants 294 factors to go Shaquille O’Neal for ninth, which might are available in 11 video games primarily based on his present scoring common (26.8 ppg). The subsequent milestone for Harden could be becoming a member of the 30,000-point membership (he’d be the ninth member), however that’s 1,697 factors away. Harden will probably want to attend till subsequent season to affix that membership.
Evaluating the scoring trajectories of Durant and Harden on their journey to the highest 10, Durant had a major benefit in his early years, whereas Harden was utilized off the bench throughout their time as Thunder teammates.
Nonetheless, in the course of the chart, Harden’s climb hits a pointy rise that coincides together with his commerce to the Houston Rockets in 2012, the place he grew to become a workforce’s main scorer for the primary time in his profession and a real game-changer, too.
Harden thrives in isolation, using the crossover, his stepback, his capacity to empty deep 3-pointers and his knack for incomes free throws — all whereas nonetheless playmaking for his teammates. It’s a system many have tried to repeat, however none have mastered like Harden.
It’s becoming that his first recreation as a member of the top-10 scoring membership is available in Houston, the place Harden’s transformation from Kia Sixth Man of the Yr (2011-12 in OKC) to Kia MVP (2017-18) and three-time scoring champion (2018-20) occurred. Throughout that span, he averaged a career-best 36.1 factors per recreation in 2018-19, which ranks seventh all-time. Solely Chamberlain (5 instances) and Jordan have ever averaged extra ppg in a single season than Harden did then.
Whereas Harden has the best single-season scoring common between the previous teammates – who additionally joined forces in Brooklyn for 1 1/2 seasons – it’s Durant who owns essentially the most scoring titles between them, with 4, tied with George Gervin and Allen Iverson for the third-most ever, behind Jordan (10 instances) and Chamberlain (seven instances).
Along with rating eighth all-time in complete factors, Durant owns the fourth-highest scoring common (27.2) amongst all gamers who’ve performed no less than 500 profession video games. He trails solely Jordan (30.1), Chamberlain (30.1) and Elgin Baylor (27.4).
Durant’s mixture of longevity and consistency as a scorer can solely be matched by the NBA’s all-time main scorer, LeBron James. Durant is on tempo to common 25+ factors for a seventeenth straight season and solely James has an extended such run (his 20 straight seasons of 25+ factors resulted in 2024-25 with 24.4 ppg).
Harden counters Durant’s consistency with greater scoring peaks. Whereas Harden is tied with Kobe Bryant for the third-most 50+ level video games (25) in league historical past, Durant is tied for twelfth on that checklist with 9 such video games. Harden additionally enjoys a commanding lead in 40+ level video games (107, fourth) over Durant (72, tenth).
Durant and Harden are high 10 all-time scorers, however the roads they took to get there have been completely different.
Durant is the definition of a three-level scorer: he’s deadly from all spots on the court docket and may simply as simply dominate a recreation with mid-range jumpers as he can from 3-point vary. He can use his size and athleticism to get to the basket, too.
He’s on tempo for a fifth straight top-five end in area objectives made out of the mid-range. That’s a zone Harden deserted for a lot of his profession as he targeted on the highest-efficiency scoring alternatives: layups, 3-pointers and free throws.
As proven above, the previous teammates show that there are a number of methods to realize greatness.
Durant ranks twenty fourth all-time in 2-point area objectives made (8,485), twelfth in 3-pointers made (2,224) and seventh in free throws made (7,409). Harden is additional down among the many 2-point area aim leaders at 167th (5,093), however he’s high 5 in each 3-pointers made (second at 3,256) and free throws (fifth at 8,343).
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