It only took six games of his 14th NBA season for DeMar DeRozan to reach another major milestone.
The Bulls star entered Friday night’s contest against the Spurs just seven points away from becoming the 50th player in NBA history to score 20,000 career points. He joined the exclusive club with a midrange jumper in the first quarter.
The moment the 20,000 points club gained a new member.@DeMar_DeRozan | @NBCSChicago pic.twitter.com/WAxl04EUVt
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 29, 2022
Chicago’s fanbase has quickly become enamored with DeRozan, who has been a fan favorite in each stop of his career. That includes San Antonio, where he played from 2018-2021.
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DeMar DeRozan scoring breakdown
Chicago is the third stop of DeRozan’s career. After he was selected by Toronto in the 2009 NBA Draft, DeRozan spent the first nine seasons of his career with the Raptors before he was traded to San Antonio, where he spent three seasons.
DeRozan exited Toronto as the franchise’s all-time leading scorer.
- Raptors — 13,296 points
- Spurs — 4,455 points
- Bulls — 2,242 points (before Oct. 28 game vs. Spurs)
As mentioned above, DeRozan is now one of 50 NBA players to score 20,000 or more career points. Thirty-four of those 50 players have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Of the other 16:
- 10 (including DeRozan) are still active or have yet to formally retire
- Four are not yet Hall of Fame eligible (Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter, Dwyane Wade and Pau Gasol)
With DeRozan still performing at an All-Star level, the three-time All-NBA selection is strengthening his case to make the Hall of Fame once he retires.
DeMar DeRozan career stats (as of Oct. 28)
- 20.8 points per game
- 46.5 percent field goal shooting
- 28.8 percent 3-point shooting
- 83.8 percent free throw shooting
NBA active leaders for career points
DeRozan is now part of a special group of active NBA players that have crossed the 20,000-point plateau. The others? Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kevin Durant and LeBron James.
Note: Players like Carmelo Anthony, LaMarcus Aldridge, Joe Johnson and Dwight Howard, who have not formally retired but are not currently on a roster, are not included.
| Rank | Player | Points |
| 1. | LeBron James | 37,144 |
| 2. | Kevin Durant | 25,622 |
| 3. | James Harden | 23,584 |
| 4. | Russell Westbrook | 23,329 |
| 5. | Chris Paul | 20,975 |
| 6. | Stephen Curry | 20,185 |
| 7. | DeMar DeRozan | 20,000 |
| 8. | Damian Lillard | 17,643 |
| 9. | Rudy Gay | 17,372 |
| 10. | Kyle Lowry | 15,159 |
