Nobody can make it in life on their own, and professional athletes are a great example of that. As fans, we see athletes once they reach college or the pros, already so far along in their journey, but to get to that point, they need a support system that nurtured their talents and allowed them to thrive. Take them to school, raise them right, pick them up from practice — there’s a lot of sacrifice that goes into it.
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Kevin Durant is one of the greatest scorers in NBA history. With his height and skill set, he can get his shot off on anyone, and throughout his career he’s thrived both as an isolation scorer and within a team structure. Even he had help getting to where he is though, and NBA fans saw that in his emotional and memorable 2014 MVP acceptance speech.
“You the real MVP” lives on over a decade later as a clear example of how much KD’s mom Wanda means to him, and it’s become a kind of shorthand for sons everywhere to express their love for their own moms.
Durant is 37 years old, so he was parented during a time when things were a bit different. That’s just the way the world was, and he shared an example of it on his recent appearance on Not This Again with Bobbi Althoff.
KD and Althoff were talking about what would happen if their moms caught them cursing as kids. Althoff said she would get soap put in her mouth. KD’s experience was a bit different. “She would slap the fire out of me,” he said.
These weren’t just any old slaps, either. “My mom’s slaps were ridiculous,” he explained, “’cause she would get in my face and then out of nowhere, she’d push back like she was non-offensive, and then PHOOM. She had quick reflexes.”
Gen Z is probably reading this in horror, but that’s the way it was back then. Nobody’s advocating for that, now, but we’d say KD turned out alright.
Durant credits his mom and dad for the way they raised him
KD was also on The Pivot podcast recently, and he spoke at length about the great job his mom and dad did with him and his brother, even though they didn’t remain together.
“Their relationship is what it is and took them different places,” he said. “Sometimes my dad was there and sometimes he wasn’t, but they never made me feel like that was a problem though. They made me feel love from both sides.”
KD’s parents were young, but they made it work. His mom worked hard but never complained, providing him with an example to live by. His dad showed up to support him in everything he could.
Fans don’t always get to see behind the curtain like this, but KD has always been an open book and very honest about what got him to this point in life. Good, bad and everything in between, he’s always kept it real.
