Chicago Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan became the 50th player in NBA history to reach 20,000 points during Friday’s first quarter game against Tottenham. DeRozan cemented his name in the history books, joining the roster of Hall of Famers like Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in achieving the feat.
- DeRozan has achieved the milestone in 963 regular season matcheswhich put him at the lower end of the list of fastest players to the 20,000 mark, but ahead of players such as Kevin Garnett (979 games), Chris Paul (1092 games) and Pau Gasol (1219 games).
- DeRozan scored at least 1,400 points in Nine of his 13 seasons in the NBALast season, he scored 2,118 points for Chicago
- Abdul-Jabbar leads the NBA points list (38,387), followed by LeBron James (37,144) and Karl Malone (36,928).
2️⃣0️⃣, 0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ point!Tweet embed Becomes the 50th player in NBA history to join the 20,000-point club. pic.twitter.com/RS0nskxKcb
– Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 29, 2022
Why is this such a big deal
The deciding factor in this sport is who puts the ball in the basket. The all-time scoring leader is the holy grail of individual achievement, and breaking into the top 50 out of thousands and thousands to play in the NBA is a special thing.
DeRozan said the athlete He had never imagined reaching a plateau of 20,000 points.
“I would be lying to you if I told you I thought so,” he said. “I’m just thinking day in and day out. I never try to look too far from anything because it might not come and you don’t want to create a predetermined disappointment in yourself. And so I try to do one thing at a time. And if that adds up it adds up.” to him, I shall be glad of it.”
How did DeRozan reach this milestone
Bulls coach Billy Donovan has admired DeRozan’s long-range scoring skill for years. But until DeRozan arrived in Chicago last season, Donovan didn’t know the depth of DeRozan’s desire to perfect his craft. That’s what separated DeRozan, Donovan said.
“His exercises are very meticulous,” Donovan said. “He watches a lot of movies. He watches a lot of NBA games. It works a lot on mental preparation. I’ve been fortunate to be with some great players. Their routine may be a little different. But their mentality is at the heart of the matter. There is incredible attention to detail and amazing focus.”
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What does this mean for DeRozan’s Hall of Fame nomination
DeRozan, 33, is already 50th all-time in points and will continue to climb that ladder. He scored no fewer than 1,400 points in nine of his thirteen seasons, including a career high of 2,118 he scored for the Bulls during his renaissance, an All-Star from 2021-22.
Barring an injury, DeRozan could finish this season 37th on the all-time scoring list, ahead of Hal Greer. If we want to get really wild and DeRozan repeats his production from a year ago, he could hit 35, ahead of Gary Payton (21813 points) and Larry Legend, Larry Bird of the Celtics (21791 points).
Where DeRozan ranks among the active players
Stephen Curry and Chris Paul are directly ahead of DeRozan on this list and are still active, so predicting an exact landing spot for DeRozan is a bit of a guess. But that’s the kind of air that DeRozan, the five-time All-Star star, is on the move. As he continues to climb this list, the possibility of him being nominated for the Hall of Fame increases.
The closest active player behind DeRozan is Portland player Damian Lillard, who is 85th on the all-time list, with 17,643 career points.
“It’s a huge achievement. It’s a lot of points,” his colleague Nikola Vucevic said of DeRozan. “He talks about consistency, he’s been doing it for a long time every night. It’s an amazing achievement.”
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(Photo: Matt Marton/USA Today)
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