(670 The Score) Bulls star forward DeMar DeRozan on Friday evening hit the 20,000-point milestone for his career.
DeRozan became the 50th player in NBA history to reach that mark and the 54th to do so if you include ABA statistics. DeRozan needed seven points to reach the threshold entering Chicago’s game at San Antonio on Friday, and he reached the milestone with an 18-foot jumper from near the left elbow with 5:43 left in the first quarter.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich – whom DeRozan played under for three seasons from 2018-'21 – quickly called a timeout to commemorate the moment. DeRozan and Popovich later hugged before play resumed.
"Just knowing the amount of players that played in this game for 75 years, it's crazy,” DeRozan said Wednesday evening as he looked ahead to the milestone. “Not too many people even get to that point. Some of my favorite players that I watched never even got to that point. To be there is definitely crazy.”
DeRozan finished with 33 points on 11-of-20 shooting in the Bulls' eventual 129-124 loss.
DeRozan, 33, is in his 14th NBA season. He has averaged 20.8 points per game in his career. He entered Friday averaging 24.8 points per game this season.
If DeRozan kept up his current 24.8-points-per-game scoring average and played every game for the rest of this campaign, he’d be on the fringe of the top 40 all-time leading scorers by the end of the season.
“There's only so many in NBA history, (who have scored 20,000 points,” Bulls guard Zach LaVine said Wednesday. “And he's going to get a lot more in his career.
“I've said this enough – I think DeMar DeRozan is a Hall of Fame player. He's someone a lot of guys looked up to. I remember coming into the league and looking up to him as well. Just seeing how he has progressed his game, how good he is. Twenty-thousand, you have to take your hat off and give him his flowers.”
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