The Sacramento Kings continue to roll following Sunday’s latest win over the lowly Washington Wizards. Sacramento has looked entirely different under former Kings player Doug Christie. The night’s highlight, however, belonged to Kings’ shooting guard DeMar DeRozan, who moved up in the NBA’s all-time scoring ranks, surpassing a past legend in the process.
Kings’ DeMar DeRozan Surpasses Influential 76ers Legend
King’s DeMar DeRozan Moves Up On NBA’s All-Time Scoring List
You’re a great basketball player if you’re in the top 30 in point getters in NBA history. It’s simply a matter of fact. DeRozan is a great basketball player who woke up Monday morning sitting in 29th place on the NBA’s scoring list all-time. He reached the milestone on his patented shot, the mid-range, while guarded by Kyle Kuzma. The shot went down to end the first half on an assist by De’Aaron Fox. It’s fitting that DeRozan’s feat came on a shot that the NBA has aggressively moved away from in recent years with the emergence of the three-point shot. The shift in scoring has never kept DeRozan from sticking to his guns, though. He remains one of, if not the best, mid-range jump shooters in the league today.
Surpassing “The Answer”
As soon as DeRozan’s shot hit the net, he surpassed Philadelphia 76ers legendary icon Allen Iverson in the same breath. Iverson retired from the game with 24,368 points. He was a seasoned scorer in his day with Philly and then with the Denver Nuggets. Electrifying and captivating off the court just as he was on the court, Iverson will always be known as one of the greatest scorers of the basketball the NBA has ever seen.
While DeRozan’s game is much different from Iverson’s and not quite as electric, the former Toronto Raptors draft pick is as dominant and offensively threatening as Iverson. While his mid-range is killer, DeRozan also has the size and strength to drive to the basket. His shooting has attributed to a career 21.3 PPG, and now 24,379 points in total, with many middy’s left to hit. Imagine if DeRozan was as good of a three-point marksman as he is a mid-range one. He would have moved up the scoring list much quicker.
Kings On the March
DeRozan’s tenure in Sacramento got off to a sluggish start. Even though he, Fox, and Domantas Sabonis have each averaged 20-plus points per game all season long, the team struggled mightily. So much so that before Mike Brown’s firing, they were well out of the playoff picture and well below .500.
Well, the tides have changed, it would appear, and the Kings have gone 9-2 with Christie at the helm. DeRozan has been an integral part of the turnaround, and his offensive impact is benefiting the Kings in a big way. Having moved back into playoff positioning and above .500, Sacramento looks to be back on the right track. They’re marching toward the postseason under Christie, who would almost certainly be rewarded a permanent place as head coach. As for DeRozan, he has a chance to leapfrog Steph Curry (24,428) by the season’s end. That would be ironic—the mid-range specialist surpasses the three-point specialist.
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