When Kevin Durant teared up at the podium during his MVP speech last year while espousing love for his mother, it was a defining moment for the NBA. The line "You the real MVP," elicited such a reaction that it's become a staple of certain online communities, an in-joke between hoops fans trying to show a little love to each other.
Kevin Durant doesn’t like people joking about ‘You the real MVP’
You are not the real MVP, Internet community.
Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
One person who isn’t a fan of the meme, however, is the man who created it. As part of a wide-ranging, emotional interview with GQ set to be published next month, Durant explained how much he hates the way the Internet has used his signature line, which he says came from true sentiments but has been warped into a joke.
”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.
“I was serious as hell saying that, you know what I’m saying?”
Media Maze
There’s been a lot of attention given to Durant lately after his outburst toward the media -- “You guys really don’t know s***,” -- at NBA All-Star Weekend, particularly to his personality. It’s clear the 26-year-old is growing more comfortable speaking his mind publicly as he gets older, and that’s led to situations like the one we saw in New York City.
It’s also led to interviews like the one at GQ, which reveals an emotional, vulnerable Durant who sounds an awful lot like he could use a hug. Quotes like the one below show a degree of candidness that you rarely see from seemingly superhuman star athletes.
"I go to sleep at night, like, 'Am I gonna be alone forever?'" A whole ocean of regret. His life too hectic, and too surrounded by money, to trust, let alone love, the next person who comes through that door."
The whole piece certainly isn’t that negative, but it’s a pretty forthright interview from someone who didn’t always speak his mind like this in the past. You’ll definitely want to head over to GQ.com to check out the full story before it hits newsstands next month, as it’s loaded with intriguing bits on an athlete we clearly didn’t know much about. Let’s just hope Durant comes around on the meme eventually, too.
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