Kevin Durant passes Michael Jordan for fifth all-time in NBA scoring: How high can he go before retirement?

The 37-year-old veteran now trails just LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant

By Jasmyn Wimbish Mar 22, 2026 at 1:17 pm ET • 4 min read

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Kevin Durant is now fifth on the all-time scoring list after passing Michael Jordan in the Rockets' 123-122 win against the Miami Heat Saturday night. He entered the game 25 points away from tying Jordan's career point total of 32,292, which was certainly an achievable number to get to given Durant's averaging just that (25.7) on the season.

However, Durant started the game slowly, putting up just 11 points in the first half as the Rockets and Heat were locked in a tight battle. But a 10-point third quarter brought the record well within reach once the fourth quarter started. He drilled a 3-pointer with 4:42 left to play in the game to bring his point total to 24, and needed just one more basket to pass Jordan.

Then a minute later, off a Reed Sheppard assist, Durant drained a corner 3-pointer with 3:23 left to surpass Jordan.

5TH ON THE NBA ALL-TIME SCORING LIST ☄️ Kevin Durant ladies and gentlemen 👏@NBA | @KDTrey5 pic.twitter.com/EvO1Y8m9up
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) March 22, 2026

The Rockets aired a highlight video to commemorate the historic moment, showcasing memorable moments of Durant's career, from his first buckets with the Seattle SuperSonics to championship-winning buckets with the Warriors.

Making history, and STILL writing more ⭐️ Kevin Durant just became 5th overall, passing Michael Jordan, on the @NBA All-Time Scoring List! pic.twitter.com/m2jsKLP8hK
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) March 22, 2026

Durant spoke prior to the game about how much it would mean to pass Jordan on the all-time scoring list, calling him the "blueprint." Now that he's accomplished it, Durant shared how the names he's passing up meant so much in his own basketball journey.

"It is pretty sweet," Durant said. "To be in the same category as some of the greats, like I said, a lot of these guys inspired me to come out here and work on my game as much as I can, and contribute to a team in a positive way. I've been inspired by all these players that I'm either coming close to or passing up. MJ is in a world of his own. He's in a planet and galaxy of his own as somebody that I look up to, respect and who basically shaped the game for me."

Durant already passed Wilt Chamberlain and Dirk Nowitzki earlier this season, before jumping the Jumpman, who he said "personifies iconic god level" with what he was able to accomplish and the persona that became larger than life during Jordan's playing days.

But while he appreciates the important moment, Durant also joked that he has "four more to go" on the all-time scoring list.

Next up on the list is Kobe Bryant, who is 1,349 points ahead of Durant. That feat will have to wait until next season with only 12 games left in the regular season.

How high can Durant climb?

This will all depend on how long Durant wants to play. Despite being 37 years old, Durant is still operating at an All-Star level. He's still as efficient as ever, while averaging over 25 points a game. He's still one of the toughest assignments in the league thanks to his ability to score with ease in a variety of ways, and his offensive skill set lends itself to aging extremely well as he continues to get older.

Durant hasn't talked about the possibility of retirement any time soon, saying in October 2025 that he hasn't put a number on how many more years he wants to play.

"I still enjoy going to the gym, and I enjoy that struggle of getting better every day, and grinding as an NBA player," Durant said. "Hopefully in my 40s, I can play until then."

Durant could very easily follow the path that LeBron James is currently on and play into his 40s. If he's able to do so without major injuries, there's a chance we could see him rise a few more spots on the all-time scoring list.

All of this will be determined by health and if Durant is still able to operate at this level into his next decade. But taking the average total points he's scored since he missed the 2019-20 season with a torn Achilles, we can at least get a rough estimate of where he could land on the list when he does eventually retire. All of this is just speculative as it obviously relies on a number of factors, but let's just play it out to visualize how high Durant can get on that list.

Durant has averaged 1,559 points in each of the last eight seasons. If we apply that number going forward, then he'll easily pass Bryant (33,643) next season. Beyond that, it would take him two more seasons to pass Karl Malone (36,928). The season after he passes Malone, though, he would be within reach of passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) towards the end of what would be four seasons from now, placing him No. 2 on the all-time scoring list at age 41.

Season (Age)Total pointsAccomplishment

2026-27 (38)

33,853

Pass Kobe Bryant

2027-28 (39)

35,412

2028-29 (40)

36,971

Pass Karl Malone

2029-30 (41)

38,530

Pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

2030-31 (42)

40,809

2031-32 (43)

41,648

2032-33 (44)

43,207

2033-34 (45)

44,766

Pass LeBron's current number

Now here comes the question everyone is wondering: Could Durant pass James? Probably not. If Durant keeps at the pace he is now, he would still need to play a total of eight seasons to pass LeBron. And that's not even taking into account that the man he's chasing is still playing. If James retires at the end of this season, then it would stand at eight more seasons. If he continues to defy all logic and plays for one or, even crazier, two or three more seasons, then that number keeps rising and continues to be further out of reach for Durant and likely everyone else.

But James aside, there's a real possibility of Durant landing No. 2 on this list before he decides to retire. If his goal is to chase LeBron's number, well, then he'd be playing late into his 40s, something that isn't off the table until Durant tells us when he wants to stop playing. But even if he finishes second overall, that's a worthy feat in itself.

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