During Kevin Durant’s touching 2014 NBA MVP speech, the Oklahoma City Thunder forward struggled to hold back tears as he recounted the many sacrifices his mother had made throughout his life to help him get where he is today.
“You made us believe. 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,” Durant said. “You the real MVP.”
One of the great moments in NBA history, reduced to Internet nothingness.
The world being horrible, that poignant final line, “You the real MVP,” was quickly co-opted by the emotionless blob known as the Internet. The quote was slapped onto photos and paired with one-liners many times over in the name of cheap giggles.
Quickly, “You the real MVP” transformed from an emblem of a single mother’s sacrifice into something truly horrendous: an Internet meme.
Well, guess what! It kind of pissed off Kevin Durant. Buried within his GQ interview with Zach Baron, the reigning MVP -- to use an Internet word -- eviscerated everyone who chewed up Durant's genuine moment of vulnerability and spat it back out on Internet chat boards:
I was like, man, that was a real emotional moment for me, and you making a joke about it! Like: Damn. Y'all don't really believe in shit. You don't have no morals or nothing. You don't care about nothing but just making fun.How are you supposed to act in the world, when people feel entitled even to a moment like that?
I was serious as hell saying that, you know what I'm saying?
We do, Kevin. And we’re sorry!!!