By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Kevin Durant scored 21 points in the Nets’ win over the Celtics as he passed Hall of Famer Allen Iverson for 25th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
“I mean, it means the world. I dedicated my life to this game at an early age… so I watched all these guys that I’m like passing up,” Durant said.
“I wanted to be like them. I wanted to be in the NBA like them, and make an impact in the league like them. So, Iverson, he was the pantheon for me. One of those guys that I emulated every time I went outside and played with my friends. It’s all surreal. I pictured I would be in the league, and had an idea… but to do it is pretty special.”
Durant was an Iverson fan even before the latter came into the NBA.
“I really became a huge Iverson fan, obviously, just like everybody else his rookie year. But seeing him at Georgetown and playing for coach [John] Thompson and that whole culture that they built there, he was a huge part of that. But once he came to the league, he had players… I was a center, power forward on my young team, and we all were long crossing and double-crossing. He influenced a lot of people. So to pass him on the list and to be up there with some of the greats on that list is incredible. I’ve just got to keep going.”