On Monday night, the Warriors won the NBA Finals with a 129-120 win against the Cavaliers, but it was Kevin Durant’s mother, Wanda Durant, who stole the show in the celebrations afterward.
Durant won himself the honor of Finals MVP with a team high of 39 points along with 7 rebounds and 5 assists, and clearly, his mother couldn’t be prouder.
Wanda Durant didn’t even care that her son was in the middle of a live interview with ABC’s Doris Burke because she had to express how proud she was of her son in that moment. She came bounding over to him and grabbed him by his beard so she could pull his face to look at her. “Look at me! You did it,” she declared before she kissed him on the cheek. “I’m proud of you.”
Kevin Durant and his Mother Wanda Durant. pic.twitter.com/SIdClgVtb7
— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD2_) June 13, 2017
The #NBAFinals MVP. The real MVP.@KDTrey5 x @MamaDurant! #NBAGIF #ThisIsWhyWePlay pic.twitter.com/d0tWLiUJTI
— NBA (@NBA) June 13, 2017
Wanda Durant could also be seen embracing the mother of her son’s teammate Stephen Curry–a moment that was epic all in itself.
It’s no surprise that Durant’s mother is front and center, as she has always been. Back in 2014, an emotional Durant declared to her that “You’re the real MVP,” and he has spoken out about how she raised him and his brother as a single mother, working hard to keep them off the streets and to give them a good life.
“We weren’t supposed to be here. You made us believe,” he said at the time. “You kept us off the street. You put clothes on our backs. You put food on the table. When you didn’t eat, you made sure we ate and [you] went to sleep hungry.”
Now, he is an NBA Finals MVP, and she is one proud mama.
Kevin Durant looks at his Mother Wanda and says “We did it.I told you when I was 8 years old” pic.twitter.com/0WqPlWJFLC
— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD2_) June 13, 2017