Kevin Durant fumbled 18 points against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. The tally was good enough for him to surpass Dallas Mavericks icon Dirk Nowitzki in the NBA All-Time scoring list. Following the game, Nowitzki congratulated the Rockets star for his milestone moment in a video message.
Kevin Durant creates history
The Houston Rockets' social media team posted the NBA icon's message on X (Formerly known as Twitter).
"From one legend to another Dirk Nowitzki congratulates Kevin Durant on becoming 𝟔𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐥-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 in @NBA scoring," the Houston Rockets captioned the post.
In the video clip, Nowitzki could not resist pulling Durant's leg. He jokingly said he was "not too happy" about KD passing his scoring record.
"Not, super happy about him passing me, Nowitzki joked.
However, the former NBA champion soon followed it up with his congratulations.
"No, seriously, to me he is one of the purest, smoothest scorers the game has ever seen," Nowitzki expressed. "He's a seven-footer with a two-guard's game, the shot making, the off-the-dribble stuff, the off-balance stuff."
"I mean, there is really nothing you can do to stop him one-on-one ... So congrats, KD. Keep it going. Move up a couple more shots and keep it up. Good luck."
Big feat for Kevin Durant
Durant moved past Nowitzki after converting two free throws with 15.2 seconds remaining in the game. Those two points took his career point total to 31,562, officially moving past the Mavs icon's
To add to it, the Rockets claimed their first back-to-back victories of 2026 with a 119-110 win over the New Orleans Pelicans as Jabari Smith Jr.'s 32 points led the team to win.
Kevin Durant shows love to Dirk Nowitzki after passing him on the NBA's All-Time scoring list
Kevin Durant continues to add his historic career. The Slim Reaper cruised past Dirk Nowitzki as the sixth-highest points scorer in NBA history on Sunday and reflected on his sixth-highest points scorer in NBA history on Sunday and opened up on his duels against him during the post game interview.
"Like (I) have played against him during his run to his first championship," KD said. "Played against him the next season after they tryanna defend their title, so we've had some meaningful battles."
Continuing to speak on the Hall-of-Fame, Durant showed love to Nowitzki, claiming he wanted to "emulate" his career.
"It was so demoralizing playing against a player like that," Durant continued. "I always said I wanted to be that respected. I wanted to be that revered by my teammates, by a city, by the media, by everybody who watches the game. I felt like Dirk was the embodiment of that, and I tried to emulate as much as I could."
After passing Nowitzki, Durant will be aiming to overtake Michael Jordan, who averaged 32,292 points over iconic career.