NBA and College

As the NBA’s 2026–27 season opened in preseason, several established stars were approaching notable career marks, according to an NBA.com preview published October 14, 2026. Kevin Durant was within reach of moving up the all-time scoring and field-goal lists. Nikola Jokić, LeBron James and Stephen Curry were also closing in on milestones in triple-doubles, points, assists and three-pointers. Durant entered his 20th NBA season 1,047 points short of passing Kobe Bryant for fourth on the league’s all-time scoring list. He needed 73 field goals to move past Shaquille O’Neal for seventh, and one 40-point regular-season game to reach 75 such performances. Jokić needed two regular-season triple-doubles to reach 200, a total NBA.com said would make him the second player to achieve the mark after Russell Westbrook. He was 12 triple-doubles from passing Westbrook for the regular-season record and one away from leading in combined regular-season and postseason triple-doubles. The three-time MVP was also 1,991 points from 20,000 career points, 1,023 rebounds from 10,000 and 920 assists from 7,000. Reaching all three would make him the second player to attain those totals, after LeBron James, according to NBA.com. James began his record-setting 24th NBA season 560 points short of 44,000 regular-season points and 1,560 short of becoming the first player to reach 45,000. He had scored 1,256 points in 60 games the previous season, the NBA.com preview reported. He needed 76 assists to pass Jason Kidd for third on the career list and 537 to pass Chris Paul for second. James was also 29 steals from moving past Gary Payton for fifth and 27 regular-season wins from passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the league record. Curry had made 4,898 three-pointers across the regular season and playoffs and needed 102 more to become the first player with 5,000. He and DeMar DeRozan were also approaching 27,000 regular-season points: DeRozan was 289 away, while Curry was 472 away. James Harden was 661 points short of 30,000 career points, a total that would make him the ninth player to reach the mark. He needed 189 assists to pass Isiah Thomas for 10th on the all-time list. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander needed 10 more consecutive 20-point games to reach a streak of 150. Trae Young was nine games from reaching 100 career games with at least 30 points and 10 assists, a milestone NBA.com said had been reached by four players. Klay Thompson needed 75 three-pointers to pass Ray Allen for third on the league’s all-time list. The milestones are targets to watch, not records already achieved. NBA.com’s October 14 preview lists the distances each player had to go as the season began in preseason.