Kevin Durant was thrilled to emulate some of his heroes after becoming the eighth player in NBA history to score 31,000 points, something he thought was "unreachable".

Durant finished with 28 points during the Houston Rockets' 117-98 win over former team Phoenix Suns, with Amen Thompson adding a season-high 31 points in the victory. 

But the game belonged to 15-time NBA All-Star Durant, who took his career points haul to 31,024, good for number eight on the all-time scoring list so far. 

Indeed, he joins the likes of Wilt Chamberlain (31,419 points), Dirk Nowitzki (31,560), Michael Jordan (32,292), Kobe Bryant (33,643), Karl Malone (36,928), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and LeBron James (42,268) to ever achieve the feat. 

"As you're coming into the league, you look at these guys as heroes, and put them on pedestals, and you look at their accomplishments as sometimes unreachable," Durant said.

"But then you get on that road trying to do your thing. That's what I've done since 2008. I've been focused on trying to be the best player I can be. 

"And they set a standard for each player when they left the league. Guys like Wilt, Michael, Kobe – I'm missing so many. They just set a standard that I try to meet every day.

"I just felt like if I locked in and did what I did, I could be mentioned in the same breath as those guys. That's the confidence I had, but I knew it was going to be a tough journey.

"I've got more to do. I'm grateful to still be playing, and hopefully I will keep doing this, moving up the charts."

FRIDAY'S FINAL SCORES

Kevin Durant becomes the 8th player in NBA history to reach 31,000 career points in the @HoustonRockets home victory!

Amen Thompson: 31 PTS, 4 REB https://t.co/dSL6icZjf0 pic.twitter.com/M0BbOOSFcB

— NBA (@NBA) December 6, 2025

Durant took his time to find his groove against the Suns, scoring just four points in the first quarter, but was able to quickly recover in the second quarter. 

The 37-year-old converted back-to-back 3-point players to register a season-high 17-point frame to hand Houston a 75-68 lead going into half-time. 

"I just touched the ball a little bit more. I shot the ball with confidence," Durant said. "There's the law of averages. I missed some good shots in the first quarter.

"I figured if I take those same types of looks, they'll come back around for me."

Durant's contribution helped Houston improve to 15-5 to sit second in the Western Conference behind the Oklahoma City Thunder.

But Rockets coach Ime Udoka remained in awe of Durant's achievement, saying: "It's incredible. 

"I played against him his rookie year and a few times after that and remember him coming in and guys trying to guard the same way [they do] now, being physical with him, taking him off the ball.

"He's learned to adapt, to adjust. To be able to do this with longevity at this high level efficiency-wise as well, it's an incredible career [and] a long way to go."