Rockets' Kevin Durant isn't Giving Himself Enough Credit for Looming Milestone

Kevin Durant is one of the game's greatest NBA players of all-time. He's proven capable of thriving in quite literally any environment.

Or any ecosystem. In fact, Durant has been the system in each and every one of his stops. For better or worse.

But regardless of the talent assembled around him and/or skillsets, the result has generally been the same. Durant will always get buckets in the end.

He's averaged at least 25 points in 17 consecutive seasons. To that point, Durant has now averaged at least 25 points for five different teams.

He's also been quite the efficient scorer throughout his career, with an average of 62.1 percent true shooting. Durant doesn't need to hijack an offense to score in bunches.

He doesn't have to flood possessions with shot attempts. In fact, Durant has drawn scrutiny for not demanding shots.

He's always preferred to play within the flow of the offense, even though him getting a shot is typically one of the most high percentage looks that an offense can draw up. Certainly more than his teammates.

And definitely with the Rockets. Durant's scoring ability is so prolific that teams have simply decided to blitz him and trap him at halfcourt. Rockets fans have seen that song and dance before with James Harden, who faced the same types of coverages on a nightly basis.

Durant is on the cusp of passing Michael Jordan for fifth place in scoring. He needs just 68 points to pass him.

Based on his average this season with the Rockets, he'll get there within the next three games. But even though Durant is on the verge of passing Jordan, he's contextualized the looming feat, knowing Jordan could have scored more if he hadn't retired the first two times during his career, as he explained to Michael Lee of The Ringer.

"He could’ve played past 40, too.," Durant said. "I would say MJ took off four to five years combined. You give him 300 more games of 30 points a night; that’s not an exaggeration. That’s what he averaged — 30! I don’t want to take that away from him when I pass him. I think that’s key for any historian to know that about MJ. It’s cool to still be in that same realm as him, but he’s more than a 32,000-point scorer to me.”

Durant has also missed extensive time. In fact, he's also acknowledged the impact that may have had on him having fewer total points."You give me those 200 more games, you never know. But the only reason I’m even close to MJ is because he retired twice.”

Both players are legends. There's no question about that. But you do have to respect Durant's humility.