Kevin Durant finished Saturday with 31 points in a win over Dallas, joining the 29,000 points club. He was then asked about the milestone and took a moment to reflect.

“It speaks to so many people who have helped me,” said the Phoenix Suns striker in an on-court interview. “So many people went to the gym with me. Encouraged me. Text me after bad games. They took time out to watch me play and take an interest in my career. It’s all about them.”

But then he finished the thought with a familiar feeling. He made a similar point when he crossed the 25,000 point mark. He followed his monologue about the honor of this achievement with a reminder of other achievements to come. Because while Durant has great respect for the history of the game, he can't be viewed as a finished star patting himself on the back in his final days. He doesn't like the tone of these end-of-career reflection questions. The end is not near. That's why he underlined his appreciation with a promise.

“I still have more work to do.”

And then he dropped 30 points in a home win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

If Durant, who turned 36 in September, has a moderately good year by his standards, he will score more than 1,500 points this season. Along the way, he will pass Moses Malone and Julius Erving and move into eighth place on the career scoring list, which includes the ABA. Last year he passed Shaquille O'Neal to reach the top 10. With more than 2,000 points this season, KD would pass Wilt Chamberlain for seventh place.

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Of the legends he overtook this season, Moses and Dr. O'Neal totaled 1,333, surpassing Malone's 1,279. Erving and Chamberlain were in their final seasons at age 36 and barely scored more than a thousand points.

Meanwhile, saying that Durant could average 25 points per game is a cool opinion, cooler than a polar bear's toenails.

That's why Durant is out here referring to legendary milestones like rounding out third base. Like he just achieved a gold rank in Call of Duty. He knows he's still among the best, and he'll have more questions about more milestones and more legends he'll overtake. So the 11th oldest player in the NBA, who has played an average of 40 minutes per game so far, can look beyond 29,000 points as if he were a point guard defending him.

Yes, this era of old heads is different.

Don't twist it. The changing of the guard in the NBA is happening. Nikola Jokić has already initiated the transition. Shai Gilgeous Alexander. Luka Doncic. Anthony Edwards. Victor Wembanyama. The league will be theirs. Your names on the marquee. Their presence drew the crowds. Their legacies are the subject of online battles.

To be honest, it should have happened already. If it weren't for the uncle brigade. LeBron James. Stephen Curry. Kevin Durant. James Harden. Damian Lillard. Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler when healthy. The NBA has never seen so many OGs still cooking. Working on the grill in sandals and socks.

It is a testament to the advances in kinesiology, technology and hoopology. But most of all, it's an example of how much they love the game. Their commitment to the craft and their competitive spirit. They are incredibly insane. Real hoopers.

Some of them have retained their impeccable shape and can compete with this new generation of stars. Some of them mock modern workout culture with old-school bravado, requiring only a few months of getting into shape and a foam roller.

Almost all of them thrive on elite skill, the experience they gained in the league as a kid watching and battling Kobe Bryant, and the heart with which they got here. They all share a tenacity that defines their generation. They were playing outside. They drank water from tubes and ate in the mall's food court. They grew up playing basketball outside on concrete courts in the summer heat. Her ligaments and muscles were strengthened through nightclub calisthenics, THC, and compression fabric.

The next generation will have to free the superstars from the hands of social security.

LeBron turned 30 during the 2014-15 season. Before this season, a player in the NBA scored 25 points or more on average 334 times in 68 seasons. Of these, 18 were completed by players aged 33 and over.

This means that 5.4 percent of the best scorers were in the past few years.

But since and including the season in which LeBron turned 30, a player has averaged at least 25 points per game 128 times in 10 seasons — 13 of them by players age 33 and older. Up to 10.2 percent. Almost twice as high.

Last year, eight players in their 30s averaged 23 or higher. It was the second consecutive season to take place, breaking the previous record of seven in the 2020-21 season. Before that there were a maximum of six players.

1995-96: Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Charles Barkley and Mitch Richmond. The oldest was The Dream at 33 years old.

1985–86: Adrian Dantley, Alex English, Moses Malone, Mike Mitchell, World B. Free and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was the oldest at 38.

This season, around 10 to 12 players in this age group could average at least 20 years old. In addition to those mentioned above: Paul George, DeMar DeRozan, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Nikola Vučević and CJ McCollum.

This league has more successful thirty-somethings than an overpriced Saturday brunch downtown.

Yes, part of their success can be attributed to this era. The 3-pointer obsession and the space it creates makes it at least a little easier to average 20 points. But anyone watching the Uncle Brigade go to work and owing their greatness to that era missed out.

Yes, they get crazy salaries. It's easy to stick with it when the standard mid-range exception is $12 million, which is more than Barkley has ever made in an NBA season. But these veterans who have lapped the field don't make it to the middle class. They are good enough to earn the high salaries. And if you think it's all about the money, you're wrong.

Watch them play. This is a different kind of hardcore that isn't as romanticized as clotheslines in the 1980s. The kind they were accused of having in terms of load management and friendships for not having them.

But you know what's difficult. They're still here. I'm still killing it. Still magnetic as ever. The indispensable ones.

Many of them have no real chance of winning a championship. They're just in it for the bag and the fame. Prove your supremacy. Compete because they can.

Don't miss what's happening. Don't take it for granted that some of the best players we've ever seen have packed two lives into their careers. The game has changed. The world has changed. But her size, her demeanor and her presence have outlasted all of that. They were consistently excellent and reliably entertaining.

At some point they will be escorted off the main stage if they don't leave first. The rightful heirs take over.

And we can only hope that the new generation gives as much of themselves as the aging stars. That the future faces of the NBA learn a valuable lesson as they lay down the reins: It takes greatness to get to the top, but it takes something to stay there different. You still have more to do.

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(Illustration: Meech Robinson / The athlete; Photos: Barry Gossage / NBAE via Getty Images; Stacy Revere, Alika Jenner / Getty Images)