Kevin Durant's mother sends message to son: 'You are the real MVP'
On May 6, 2014, Kevin Durant — then with the Oklahoma City Thunder — was crowned the NBA's regular-season MVP. He delivered one of the most memorable acceptance speeches of all-time, thanking his mother, Wanda, for all she's done for him over the years.
"We wasn't supposed to be here. You made us believe," an emotional Durant said. "You kept us off the street. Put clothes on our backs, food on the table. When you didn't eat, you made sure we ate. You went to sleep hungry. You sacrificed for us. You the real MVP."
Early Tuesday morning, shortly after Durant's Golden State Warriors dethroned the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the NBA championship and Durant was named Finals MVP, his mother had a message for him.
"Kevin, I know that you say that I am the real MVP, but you are the real MVP," Wanda Durant said in a video shared on Twitter, via Fox Sports One's Undisputed. "I love you son."
"He made a decision to join the Warriors (last July) and he was OK with it, no matter what everyone said. There was some harsh commentary about him leaving and who he was as a man, his character and his integrity. Against all of that, he still produced some of the best basketball that I've seen.
"My MVP speech would be: 'Kevin, no matter what people have said about the decision that you made, you continued to do what you believed was right and you made a decision that you felt was best for you. You played this year phenomenally with all of the pressure and all of the naysayers, and because of that, you are my real MVP.' "
Durant and his mother also shared an emotional moment on the Oracle Arena floor after Golden State's victory.
"We did it," Durant said during his acceptance speech. "I told you when I was eight years old. We did it."