"You're a savant, you are an artist" - Kyrie Irving pays a heartfelt tribute to friend and teammate Kevin Durant for reaching 25k points milestone

Kevin Durant reached another personal landmark as the Brooklyn Nets lost a close game to the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Durant, who had 37 points on 12-of-21 shooting (57.1%) in the game, went past the 25000-point milestone in the loss. The 12-time All-Star and two-time Finals MVP is the 23rd NBA player to get to 25000 career points.

Durant, who had 24967 points before the start of the game versus Boston, reached the 25000-point mark with a mid-range jumper mid-way through the final quarter. Unfortunately, the 33-year-old could add only four more points to his personal tally as the Nets lost their fourth straight game.

The admiration for Kevin Durant's landmark came from all quarters. Kyrie Irving called Durant a "savant" while paying his teammate a heartfelt compliment. Irving said:

"I told him in the locker room, '25,000 points. You're a savant. You are an artist, you have clipped history.' He will forever be remembered as a legend in our game. He's been doing this since he was 19. I have a level of love and admiration for my best friend right there. He just does it in ways that makes it look easy. Even when he takes six weeks off, it looks like he hasn't missed any time."

Kyrie Irving added:

"That level of work ethic that he puts in, it shows why he is as great as he is. It motivates me to continue to get my game up and hopefully when I'm done with my career, I could be sitting next to him and have 25000 as well and look back and we just crack jokes about the few championships that we won together. That's the goal ahead."

Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash hails the "incredible' Kevin Durant

The head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, Steve Nash, also had some very effusive words about Kevin Durant. Nash spoke glowingly about the "resilience" and "passion" that Durant has, which has helped the forward reach the historic landmark. Nash said:

"Kevin's incredible. I mean I can sit here for an hour talking about Kevin Durant. The ability, the sacrifices, the resilience, the passion for the game, that's what you see out there. You see obviously someone that has gifts, but someone who has worked to master and to refine those gifts endlessly."

Nash added:

"He's comeback from some big injuries, continue to play at an equally high level every single time, even well into his 30s here. That’s an impressive, impressive resume and it’s because of all the work on top of the gifts he has.”