Kevin Durant surpassed Hakeem Olajuwon to become the 12th-leading scorer in NBA history on Thursday against Lebron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Durant, a former Texas Longhorn in his 17th season in the NBA, is playing for his fourth franchise. He was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in 2007 and joined them in their move to Oklahoma City. He won two NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors before joining the Brooklyn Nets and last season he became a member of the Phoenix Suns.

Durant, 35, has struggled with injuries in recent years. Should that continue this season, it could impact how high he rises on the career points list. Using his 27.3 points per game career average, here’s how many games he’d need to play to climb into the top 10 and beyond:

Hold on. How many points does Kevin Durant have in his NBA career?

Let’s start with the baseline. Two games into the NBA season, Durant already has 57 points. Over the course of his career, he’s scored 26,949 points in 988 games.

Ahead of Durant by 366 more points is Elvin Hayes, a forward who played from 1968-84. Hayes was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1990 and joined Durant in being among the best 75 players in NBA history in 2021.

Kevin Durant could pass Moses Malone’s NBA points record

Moses Malone is at No. 10 all-time with 27,409 career points. That’s less than 100 points difference from Hayes, and just 462 points apart from Durant. Using Durant’s career average, he could pass Malone within 17 games this season.

An injury-free Kevin Durant could pass Shaq’s points record

Shaquille O’Neal ranks eighth all-time with 28,596 points, a difference of 1,654 points from Durant currently. The Suns forward could eclipse that mark in about 60 games if he’s scoring 27.3 points per game.

After Shaq, the numbers get more challenging.

How many points do Wilt Chamberlin, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have?

Wilt Chamberlin is just ahead of O’Neal at No. 7 with 31,419 points, a difference of 4,472 points. Durant would need to play about 164 games to pass him, or two healthy seasons with at least two playoff games thrown in.

Moving up the list at No. 5 all-time is Michael Jordan, with 32,292 points. With a difference of 5,345 points, Durant would need to play about 196 games to eclipse Jordan. This could feasibly be done in two seasons with playoff series in both years including a decent spread of games.

Ahead of Jordan at No. 4 is Kobe Bryant with 33,643 points. With a difference of 6,696 points, Durant would need to play about 246 games to do so. That means three more healthy seasons for the 35-year-old.

Surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s points record would require Kevin Durant to play until he’s 40

The previous owner of the all-time NBA points record, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had his 38,387 career points mark eclipsed by James in 2022. With a difference of 11,440 points, more points than many players ever score in their careers, Durant would have to play about 419 more games.

Doing so would require playing five more seasons and tie Vince Carter for the longest NBA career with 22 seasons. James could tie this mark if he continues to play next season, too.

Carter was 43 when he retired from the NBA in 2020. The oldest player to ever play in the NBA was Nat Hickey. A coach in 1948, he activated himself as a player three days before his 46th 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡day.

When will Kevin Durant retire?

After being traded to the Suns last season, Durant told “The Ringer” that he wants to “play until I can’t no more.”

He didn’t say if winning another NBA title would provide a route for him to go out on top, saying winning a championship is more about the collective.

“A title is incredible, but what it’s going to mean to me as an individual? I want to win a title for a city, for my teammates, for the organization. Is it going to get me more notoriety, more attention, a ring? It’s not really about me. That’s how I look at championships,” Durant told Logan Murdock. “So I want to do this together. I’m looking forward to going on the journey with these guys.”

James, who has noted a desire to play with his son Bronny during his final NBA season. Bronny will be eligible for the NBA draft next year. We’ll have to wait to see if a James father-and-son duo faces opposition from Durant.