Kevin Durant's classy message to Dirk Nowitzki after passing him in all-time scoring

Kevin Durant has been climbing the NBA's all-time scoring list. A few weeks ago, the Houston Rockets star passed Wilt Chamberlain for 7th. On Sunday night against the New Orleans Pelicans, Durant passed Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki for 6th, and now sits with 31,562 points, 2 ahead of the Big German.

After the game, Durant was asked if this meant a little more having competed against Nowitzki. His response was as classy as you'd hope.

"Not just competed against Dirk, like have played against him on his route to his first championship, played against him the next season trying to defend their title, so we've had some real meaningful battles, not just regular season games. It's times going into a series when I hated Dirk, I'm sure it was vice versa," Durant started.

"Then, for him to kill us in those series, and it's so demoralizing playing against a player like that, and I always said I wanted to be that respected. I wanted to be that revered by my teammates, by a city, by media, by everybody who watches the game. I feel like Dirk was the embodiment of that. I tried to emulate, as much as I can, all of the great players, but I took a little but from Dirk, a lot from Dirk, actually. He knows.

"One of my trainers was good friends with Dirk... Played one season in the NBA, he was a rookie with Dirk, so he learned a lot from him, and I was able to take some of his stuff and incorporate it into my routine, so I'm very grateful for Dirk, Holger [Geschwindner, Nowitzki's famous trainer], 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."

KD shows love to Dirk, and says how much he wanted to emulate the Hall of Famer 🤩 https://t.co/XoiVse2ZlE pic.twitter.com/Ly2aXc3ZKf
— NBA (@NBA) January 19, 2026

Without Dirk Nowitzki, There is No Kevin Durant

Before Dirk Nowitzki entered the NBA, 7-footers rarely left the paint. Nowitzki revolutionized everything and made it vital for there to be someone who could space the floor in the frontcourt. Nowitzki was a one-of-one, but we've seen a lot of people take his patented one-legged fadeaway and add it into their games. Durant's shot to tie Nowitzki happened to be a similar-looking shot.

KD PASSES DIRK FOR 6th ON THE ALL-TIME SCORING LIST 🤩 pic.twitter.com/WLTAofswqU
— NBA (@NBA) January 19, 2026

And Nowitzki stuck it to Durant a few times. In the 2011 Western Conference Finals, Nowitzki averaged an insane 32.2 PPG, shooting 55.7% from the floor, 36.4% from three, and 96.7% from the free-throw line. The Mavericks would go on to win that series 4-1, but OKC would get revenge the next year with a sweep. Nowitzki still averaged 26.8 PPG in that series, though.

After Durant passed Nowitzki, the Houston Rockets played a video from Nowitzki to Durant, where he congratulated the two-time Finals MVP on the accomplishment.

"Not super happy about him passing me, but no, seriously, to me, he is 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 shot making, the off-the-dribble stuff, the off-balance stuff... I mean, there's really nothing you can do to stop him one-on-one. He can always get a great shot up. That's just how skilled he is, how long he is, how good his release is. And so, it's been incredible to watch his career. Like I said, he's one of the purest scorers this game has ever seen. And so, congrats, KD. Keep it going. Move up a couple more spots and keep it up. Good luck."

From one legend to another 🤝

Dirk Nowitzki congratulates Kevin Durant on becoming 𝟔𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐥-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 in @NBA scoring.@KDTrey5 | #AllFire pic.twitter.com/NPzptdzDRG
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) January 19, 2026

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