Sacramento Kings star DeMar DeRozan passed one of the most iconic figures in basketball history on the NBA’s career scoring list in an impressive win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
DeRozan had 28 points and seven assists to help the Kings beat the Cavaliers 120-113 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. DeRozan passed the late Jerry West for 26th on the league’s all-time scoring list, eclipsing a Hall of Famer whose silhouette has been used as the NBA logo for more than 50 years.
West, who died in June at the age of 86, played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1960-74. He coached the Lakers from 1976-79 and remained in the league for many years as one of the top front office executives in the game. West won one NBA title as a player and eight more as an executive.
“If you pass Jerry West in anything in life, you are doing something,” interim Kings coach Doug Christie said. “God rest his soul. One of my favorite people is Jerry West, but when I think of Deebo, from working with him in the summertime, I just gained a whole new level of respect.
“I knew him a little bit previous to that. My son played on his AAU team, but being able to coach him, being able to train him, seeing his process, what he goes through, how he digests the game, it does not surprise me that he is passing legends because he is a living legend himself.”
West scored 25,192 points over 14 seasons in the NBA. DeRozan, who came out of USC as the ninth pick in the 2009 NBA draft, now has 25,209 points in his 16th NBA season. DeRozan passed West with a free throw at the 5:03 mark in the third quarter as the Kings rallied for a big road win over the Cavaliers.
Zach LaVine scored 37 points for the Kings (38-40), who moved ahead of the Dallas Mavericks for ninth in the Western Conference play-in race. Domantas Sabonis had 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Ty Jerome came off the bench to score 20 points for the Cavaliers (62-16), who had a 33-5 home record and a chance to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
LaVine and DeRozan combined to score 20 of Sacramento’s 29 points in the fourth quarter. LaVine went 4 of 4 from the field with three 3-pointers. DeRozan went 4 of 7 from the field with one 3-pointer.
“Those are our guys, big-time players, and they step up in the big moments,” Christie said. “We need them to be aggressive trying to find ways to manipulate the coverage of icing on the side. We found a pick and roll option with Domas in the middle. Guys were able to swing and get off the basketball, which was huge.
“Twenty-five assists, we want it even higher, but we can live with that. Deebo was able to manipulate, knock down some shots but still find people. Zach found a heater, and once he does, we just try to find him as much as we can, and to everyone’s credit, we did that. It was just a fantastic team effort.”
This story was originally published April 6, 2025 at 6:56 PM.
