Kevin Durant breaking the 30,000 point milestone is a modern basketball miracle
This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us.
Kevin Durant did something that only a handful of other players in NBA history have done in their careers. He finally reached the 30,000-point benchmark after scoring 34 against the Grizzlies. He’s the 8th player in the history of the NBA to do it and the first to hit the mark since LeBron James did it in 2018.
Officially, he’s tied with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the third-fastest player to reach the benchmark, getting it done in 1,101 games. Incredibly impressive.
But, honestly, folks, the fact that we’re here still talking about Durant as one of the great all-time scorers in the NBA instead of talking about what could’ve been is awe-inspiring to me.
Four-and-a-half years ago, if you’d told me that KD’s career would be over by now, I probably would’ve believed you. I thought his torn Achilles would end his career. To be fair, he did, too.
“My whole basketball career just flashed before my eyes,” he said about the moment he knew the severity of his injury. “I’m just like, ‘This [expletive] is over with.”
For so long, a torn Achilles had been a career killer. There weren’t too many success stories out there following such a severe injury. I mean, you can count them on one hand. Dominique Wilkins and Breanna Stewart. For my money, that was it. It’s not a great track record, considering how many other players have fallen victim to the Achilles tear.
Now, here we are nearly five years later with Durant. He’s at 30k.
There are two ways you could look at Durant’s journey so far.
The glass-half-empty way is that there’s a world where he’s already at 30,000. Far beyond it. Maybe closing in on the league’s all-time leading scorer title. He doesn’t tear his Achilles. He doesn’t break his foot. He remains relatively healthy and goes down as the unquestioned best scorer in NBA history.
The glass-half-full way is the way I’m choosing. He’s at 30,000. He didn’t have to be here and, yet, here he stands.
And, folks, we’re still counting. He’s 36 years old and still averaging 27 points per game on great efficiency. Can he do this for another four years or so? I think so. We’ll see where he ends up whenever he finishes.
Regardless of where this train stops, this journey is one I’ll always appreciate. Congrats, KD.
An Unrivaled Controversy
Unrivaled has been a pretty fun league to watch so far, but you just knew that there’d be a bump in the road at some point.
It seems we’ve arrived.
After losing in the league’s 1-on-1 tournament on Tuesday, Rhyne Howard retweeted a bunch of tweets claiming the league was rigged to favor the Lunar Owls — co-founder Napheesa Collier’s team that just so happens to also be undefeated right now.
Howard lost to Courtney Williams (another member of the Owls) and seemed to believe the officials were swallowing their whistles.
Here’s what her twitter looked like last night.
Is it rigged? Nah. There’s only one Lunar Owl that made it to the final four of the 1v1 tournament — Collier herself. There’s a representative from each team otherwise. Officials just let more contact fly in the 1-on-1 matchups because they’re 1-on-1 matchups.
Will this be a big deal, ultimately? Probably not. But it certainly isn’t the greatest look for a league trying to establish itself as a legitimate offseason option for players.
Sheesh.
The secret of the Tush Push
Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts had a blast on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The best part had to be Fallon asking about the Tush Push, to which Saquon revealed his role in it all.
Here’s Meg Hall with the reveal:
“I think I have the easiest job, to be honest,” Saquon said as Jalen shook his head, seemingly trying not to laugh about the whole thing.
“I’m the one who ‘pushes’ the ‘tush.’”
BOOM. There you have it.
Saquon Barkley, first of his name, designated tush pusher.”
This whole thing is so funny, man.
@fallontonight @Saquon is the “pusher” for Jalen Hurts’ “tush” @Philadelphia Eagles #FallonTonight #TonightShow #JalenHurts #SaquonBarkley #Eagles #SBLIX #FlyEaglesFly #JimmyFallon
The Eagles are the best, guys.
Quick hits: More on Travis Kelce’s future … The 4 Nations Face Off jerseys, ranked … and more
— Here’s Caroline Darney on Travis Kelce addressing his future with the Chiefs.
— Mary Clarke ranked the NHL’s Nation Face Off jerseys and, yeah, I’m going to need one of those Team USA joints.
— It doesn’t get any better than this moment between DeVonta Smith and Jalen Hurts. Man. Andrew Joseph has more.
— Jalen Hurts made all the Eagles fans who hated it when the team picked him look silly. Thankfully.
— Here’s Cory Woodroof and Christian D’Andrea ranking the 7 new head coaching hires in the NFL so far.
— Will the first QB in the NFL Draft go outside of the top 2? This mock draft thinks so.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. Have a great Wednesday. Peace.
-Sykes