January 6, 2026
The Houston Rockets player accomplishes the feat against his former team, the Phoenix Suns
Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant added another accolade to his NBA Hall of Fame-worthy career when he surpassed a record that Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan held. Durant, who is 37 years old, has scored 771 points in his first 30 games with the Rockets in his first year with the franchise, which breaks Jordan’s record of scoring 737 points at the age of 38 when he played his first year with the Washington Wizards.
According to The Sporting News, Durant broke the record for having the most points by a player age-35 or older through the first 30 games with a new team. Durant accomplished the feat against the team he played with last season, the Phoenix Suns, as the Rockets won 100-97.
Kevin Durant has 771 points through 30 career games with Houston, the most by any player age-35 or older through 30 career games with a new team.
The only other player with at least 700:
Michael Jordan, Was 737 pic.twitter.com/XSS22SixqY
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) January 5, 2026
It was definitely a great feeling for Durant, who also hit the game-winning three-point shot.
According to The New York Post, Durant was acquired in an offseason trade, and he felt the team blamed him for the team not jelling and for not making a legitimate run at the championship. They were expected to be one of the last teams standing before the season started last year. After the game, he told reporters he did not want to leave the team and felt like he was the scapegoat for the season not meeting the high expectations. After reaching the Western Conference semifinals three seasons ago and being swept two years ago, the team did not make the playoffs last season, finishing 36-46.
“A place that I didn’t want to leave. My first time being — I don’t want to sound too dramatic, but I will — to be kicked out of a place. And feel like I’ve been scapegoated for the issues that we had as a team last year, yeah, it felt good to beat them and hit a game-winning shot.”
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