Just in time to temporarily relieve the National Basketball Association from public exposure of its expediency, hypocrisy and criminalization of thought, and also just in time for Mother’s Day, Oklahoma Thunder forward Kevin Durant delivered an ethics slam-dunk of an acceptance speech when he was honored with the league’s Most Valuable Player Award.
‘Tis not always thus. Another NBA great, Michael Jordan, revealed the bleakness of his character in his nauseating speech upon being admitted to pro basketball’s Hall of Fame, settling old grudges and celebrating himself. Durant, in glorious contrast, was graceful, humble, sincere, gracious, and filled with gratitude, particularly toward his mother, who was in the audience. It takes a sense of fairness, respect and perspective, as well as confidence, to use the spotlight at an event that honors you to shift attention to others, and that is what Durant did. His speech itself is proof that his mother raised him well, and his words drove the message home:
“One my best memories I have is when we moved into our first apartment. No bed, no furniture, we all just sat in the living room and just hugged each other. We thought we made it. … You wake me up in the middle of the night in the summertime, making me run up a hill, making me do push-ups. Screaming at me from the sidelines of my games at eight or nine years old … When you didn’t eat, you made sure we ate. You went to sleep hungry. You sacrificed for us. You’re the real MVP.”
Here is his entire speech, displaying an ethical character that can’t be faked.
Ethics Alarms 
This is a class act! It should have been on the sports page of every newspaper in the country.
Beautiful, thoughtful, eloquent, well-structured, emotional, humble… MATURE – one of the best ever..!
I always liked him, now I admire him greatly.
Jack, Your link only gave the first 11 minutes or so… I reTweeted it and ‘via @captCompliance’d it if you want to Czech that out… TY for bringing this to our attention – great job Jack..!
Rats…I thought it was the whole speech. I had trouble finding a link…thanks.
Just found the whole speech and replaced the one linked…
Excellent. This is the sort of spirit that athletics are supposed to impart on its participants. It’s all too rare, now.
What a delightfully refreshing exemplar he is!
That was lovely.
My kids are 19 and 22. I despair that they will ever understand, and forgive my mistakes. This gives me hope.
This is the first I’ve heard of this speech, but yet, this February, I saw wall-to-wall coverage of Richard Sherman’s assholery. I’m gonna share this. And on top of that, I hope the Thunder win the Championship.
Yes, I too. I never followed the team, but Durant is my favorite NBA player now, and one of my favorite human beings—right behind his Mom.
I WANT to hate Kevin Durant, for purely basketball reasons, but I just can’t. That guy is too cool.