Back in the Lone Star State with the Houston Rockets, Kevin Durant passed Dallas Mavericks great Dirk Nowitzki for sixth on the all-time scoring list. He did so by paying homage to Nowitzki's signature shot.
Future Hall of Famer and Texas Longhorns great Kevin Durant moved up the NBA's all-time scoring list on Sunday, passing Dirk Nowitzki for sixth with 31,562 career points.
Durant, back in the Lone Star State as a member of the Houston Rockets, poetically tied the Dallas Mavericks legend with a one-legged fade that Nowitzki popularized in the modern game - a move that Durant has taken a special liking to with his long frame and sweet shooting stroke.
KD officially moved into sixth place with a free throw moments later.
As the game between the Rockets and the New Orleans Pelicans wound to a close, the video board showed a pre-recorded message Nowitzki taped to wish Durant congratulations after the achievement.
"Not super happy about him passing me," Nowitzki chuckled. "No seriously, to me he's one of the purest, smoothest scorers the game has ever seen. A seven footer, basically - which he says he's not, I think he's a seven footer - with, really, a two-guard's game.
"The shotmaking, the off-the-dribble stuff, the off balance stuff, I mean, there's really nothing you can do to stop him one on one. ... It's been incredible to watch his career. ... So congrats KD. Keep it going. Move up a couple more spots, and keep it up. Good luck."
Durant totaled 18 points on Sunday as the Rockets beat the Pelicans by nine, 119-110. He is now 730 points away from Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan for fifth on the all-time list. LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant make up the top four spots in career regular-season points.
“To be up there with Dirk, somebody I looked up to, I idolized, I competed against,” Durant said postgame. “We had some great battles. He always was supportive of my career and my game. So, you know to be up there with a legend like that, it’s just insane. And be right under Michael Jordan, it’s crazy, man. I want to continue to keep stacking, keep climbing up the charts, just see how I finish. It’s been amazing so far.
"I'm very grateful for Dirk, [Nowitzki's training] Holger [Geschwinder], what they brought to the game. Because without them I wouldn't have seen the game from this perspective. He means a lot to me, man."
Renowned as one of college basketball's best freshman ever, Durant averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds for the Longhorns in the 2006-07 season. He was the first true freshman ever to win a major national player of the year award.
A one-and-done season in Austin led to Durant being drafted No. 2 overall by the Seattle Supersonics and spending one season in the Pacific Northwest before the franchise relocated to become the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Over the course of Durant's 17 and a half seasons in the league, he's earned the 2013-14 MVP award, two NBA Championships and Finals MVPs with the Golden State Warriors, and 15 All-Star selections.
The four-time scoring champ hasn't lost a step in filling up the basket, as he is currently averaging 26 points per game for the Rockets, who sit fifth in the Western Conference with a 25-15 record.