Winning basketball’s coveted MVP trophy is a basketball player’s dream. Most Valuable Player trophies are given out every year and fans can name many of the past winners. But for those who are not basketball fans, you most likely aren’t aware of who wins it, why they win it and what difference does it make anyway? Even though I have stronger feelings this year since our hometeam’s player won the award, I have a feeling that this year’s winner will soon be known to those who don’t even have an idea of what team he is on.
As one headline shouted out, Kevin Durant just trumped all our mother’s day presents. He did indeed.
As an emotional acceptance speech was winding down, Durant made a point to name each of his teammates by name and say something special about each one of them, after thanking the staff of the Thunder and also the city and fans, his greatest moment was yet to come.
Durant told the story of a difficult childhood, where Mom at times went to bed hungry so her boys could eat. Of being in their first –with no furniture– apartment and just feeling so happy to have finally made it. And how his mom made all the difference in the world, making sure he did his best, pushing him on, forcing him to make the right choices. They didn’t have much money, but it’s apparent they were rich in everything else.
He told his Mom that she was the real MVP in this story and she is.
And last, my mom. I don’t think you know what you did. You had my brother when you were 18 years old. Three years later, I came out. The odds were stacked against us, single parent with two boys by the time you were 21 years old. Everybody told us we weren’t supposed to be here. We moved from apartment to apartment by ourselves. One of the best memories I have is when we moved into our first apartment, no bed, no furniture and we just all sat in the living room and just hugged each other because we thought we made it.’
Mama Durant is the one that made the difference in Kevin’s world. If it wasn’t for her, there is no way he would be the person who he is today. Note, I said person, not star. Because today he is a person that makes me proud to be a Mom and just bursting with pride for his mother and how she must feel.
I hope that this is a call and shout out to all Moms who are struggling today and with hopes that they will listen to what Durant’s family went through and how it’s made him into the man he is today.
My hope also is they will think more about the struggles that Mama Durant went through and realize it’s not always easy, those that have success have not always been handed things on a silver platter and that for kids to grow up right they need a parental figure who is willing to be strict at times, not always their kid’s best friend.
Motherhood has never been easy. It’s hard, stressful and can be unrewarding for years, but then one day with enough strong parenting that child will grow up to be a successful human being. Not necessarily one that is rich or famous, but a good person. Kevin Durant is just such a person. It’s only because he is famous that we know what a good person he has become. But listening to him talk, seeing his community actions and how he treats others, I have no doubt that if he didn’t make into the NBA, no matter what his job might have been, he would still be a person that we would be proud to call a friend.
Well-done Mama Durant. Well-done.
