Gerald Herbert
After scoring 25 points in Monday's 101-89 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant has 2,551 points this season, marking the second-highest single-season total by any NBA player in the last 23 years, per theElias Sports Bureau(via ESPN.com).
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who scored 2,832 points in 2005-06, easily holds the mark for most points in a single season over the last 23 years.
Durant's 2,551 points are 20th-most in a single season in league history, matching George Gervin's total from the 1981-82 campaign while The Iceman was with the San Antonio Spurs.Wilt Chamberlain unsurprisingly holds the recordfor most points scored in a season with 4,029, which he did back in 1961-62 with the Philadelphia Warriors. Michael Jordan is the only other player to score at least 3,000 in a season, a feat Chamberlain accomplished three times.
Oklahoma City's regular-season finale is Wednesday against the Detroit Pistons, although Durant could be rested, with the Thunder locked into the No. 2 seed for the Western Conference playoffs.If he does play, Durant would need to score at least 30 points to move past Jordan's 1990-91 total of 2,580 points and at least 35 points to move past Gervin's 1979-80 total of 2,585 points. Should he pass both of those players, Durant's 2013-14 campaign would move up to 18th place all time.
Regardless of whether he continues his ascent Wednesday, Durant is averaging a career-high 31.9 points per game this season, the highest scoring average in the NBA since Bryant averaged 35.4 points per game during that aforementioned 2005-06 campaign. At one point, Durant scored at least 25 points in 41 consecutive games, a streak that ended on April 8 against the Sacramento Kings, when he managed only 23.
After three second-place finishes in the NBA MVP voting (2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13), Durant is widely considered to be the front-runner for the award this season.
