DeMar DeRozan climbed to 24th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list on Monday night, passing Hall of Famer Alex English, and marked the moment with a thoughtful nod to the man who helped shape his early years in the league.
“I mean, just being within that, it really don’t hit me until later on where you realize—so, so many people ahead of you when it comes to scoring, but don’t pass that out of English,” DeRozan told me after the game. “Especially me because he was my mentor my rookie year. He taught me a lot. I used to sit there and listen to him talk about his ability to score. And I learned so much from him. So to be able to sit here and be able to pass somebody that mentor me at 19 years old, that’s been cool.”
DeMar DeRozan on passing Alex English on the NBA‘s all-time scoring list, reflecting on mentor‘s impact… pic.twitter.com/OELNC23VST
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The milestone arrives in DeRozan’s 17th season. While his offensive style has evolved, expanding from slashing to a more polished midrange package and playmaking, his scoring has remained a steady pillar across teams and eras. Passing English, one of the most prolific and efficient scorers of the 1980s, adds historical weight to a career defined as much by consistency as by peak performances.
DeRozan’s remarks underscored how personal the climb has been. English’s mentorship, as he described it, provided a blueprint that extended beyond mechanics to the mental rhythm of scoring: patience, reads, and the value of craft over flash. That lineage was evident in DeRozan’s tone, which balanced pride with gratitude, an appreciation for lessons received and the rarity of outlasting so many names on a list he once admired as a teenager.
In the game, Minnesota star Anthony Edwards poured in 43 points, but DeRozan’s steady production and clutch free-throw shooting allowed Sacramento to capitalize on the Timberwolves’ late collapse. DeRozan’s 33 points marked his highest scoring output of the season to date, after shooting 9-of-16 from the field and a perfect 15-of-15 at the free-throw line in Sacramento’s 117–112 overtime win.
