Rockets Kevin Durant Nears Michael Jordan On Scoring List

Merlin sees Kevin Durant closing in on Michael Jordan, sitting 68 points shy of MJ’s 32,292 mark while calling Jordan "the standard" and "the blueprint of this whole thing." Durant, averaging 25.8 points in his 18th season, could realistically pass Jordan over the Rockets’ next three home games, a neat punctuation on a career that keeps rewriting scoring history. Merlin notes Durant’s nod to context — "He could've played past 40, too" — and the era differences he mentioned, like LeBron’s longer, uninterrupted run and "more of a shield around him." With Kobe, Malone and Kareem still ahead, Durant’s ascent matters for legacy talk and the old debates about longevity versus peak brilliance.