You’re the real MVP! It was a signature line for one of the most memorable acceptance speeches from a sports athlete. It was said by Kevin Durant, the then buddying superstar of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The line was said with raw emotion as Durant used his biggest achievement to praise his mom, Wanda Durant. Durant stated, “We wasn’t supposed to be here, you made us believe,” Durant said crying. 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, you da real MVP.” The speech was universally celebrated and underscored the role of mothers in the life of sports athletes. This weekend, the world will celebrate Mother’s Day, and the joy of playoff basketball will be on our screens. In this article, we will highlight a few of the influential mothers of today’s superstars and preview what is at stake for their sons.
1. Gloria and Lebron James- in a 2014 first-person essay, Lebron detailed that Gloria struggled to make ends meet. Gloria had Lebron when she was just 16 years old and with her mom after giving birth to James. However, three years later, Lebron’s grandmother suddenly died of a heart attack. Gloria had minimal education and skills necessary, so they lost the house. Lebron had to move around and suggested it happened a dozen times in three years. Gloria never gave up and did everything in her attempts to try to make ends meet. Lebron considered his mother as a blanket to him and security. He stated, “She was my mother, my father, my everything. She put me first. I knew that no matter what happened, nothing and nobody was more important to her than I was. I went without a lot of things, but never for one second did I feel unimportant or unloved.” Gloria was the one who encouraged Lebron to take up sports, and the rest is history. It will be interesting to see how Lebron performs in Game 6. He will recognize the urgency to win and close out this series on their home court. James is averaging 23.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in this series. However, he has not had the signature moment yet from this series, and we all wonder whether a virtuoso performance is on deck. The Lakers will need King James to rise up to put away the defending champs.
2. Sonia and Steph Curry-having Stephen Curry was a scary proposition for a young Sonia at the time. Sonya Curry grew up in a poor Black community in Radford, Virginia. Sonia had to walk 5 miles to reach the nearest all-Black school in the 1950s and 1960s. Later, Sonia attended Radford High, and the student population was less than 1 percent Black. However, the young girl was an athlete who played volleyball, basketball and ran track and relay. In her book, Fierce Love: A Memoir of Family, Faith, and Purpose, Sonia details that she nearly had an abortion but did not go through with it, because she felt God had a plan for the child. The child turned out to be Wardell Stephen Curry. After the release of the memoir, Steph stated, “From the beginning, my mom has been a rock of encouragement, faith, discipline, and gratitude for me and my siblings. Also, Mom keeps him in line after sending Curry clips of celebratory expletives said during the game and telling him to wash his mouth out with soap and water. Curry also praised his mother for his toughness and grittiness. Steph will need that toughness as he prepares to carry his team in Game 6 at the crypto.com arena. The Game 5 win was a collective effort for the Warriors, and Steph is primed to deliver on the road to push this series to 7 games. I am picking the Warriors to do just that and set up a tantalizing Game 7 in the Bay on Sunday.
3. Jayson Tatum and Brandy Cole-Tatum and his mother didn’t have it easy when he was growing up, but she was determined to make it work. Cole-Barnes finally saved enough to buy a two-bedroom, one-bathroom house when Tatum was three years old. However, It was a struggle to pay bills, and so at times, they had to heat water on the stove for baths or plug a small space heater in her bedroom. In other instances, the electricity was cut off, and the mother recalled turning on her car’s headlights to give Tatum light to practice on the basketball court. When Tatum was just 8 or 9 years old, one of the hardest things he experienced was to come home to see an eviction notice on the door. Yet, Cole fought back with tears in her eyes and made it happen for the family in a sticky situation. Like his mom, Jayson Tatum showed a level of resiliency in Game 6 after starting 1 for 13 and scoring 4 of 8 for 16 points in the 4th quarter to deliver for his team on a tough offensive night. Tatum will need to lead his team from start to finish to close out the Sixers in Game 7 on Mother’s Day likely in front of Brandy.
4. Joel Embiid and Christine Embiid-Joel Embiid is the eldest of three children. Despite her initial reservations about her son pursuing a basketball career, Christine has shown unwavering support and guidance that has propelled her son Joel to a superstar NBA player. Christine’s younger son Arthur died in a car crash on 16 October 2014. Christine was a bedrock for the family in the face of this tragedy. Christine shared the court with Embiid when he recently received the MVP Award, and he pointed to his family’s support as the root of his success. Embiid will have to elevate his game to deliver for his team in Game 7 on the road in Boston. It will be deflating to have scored only 86 points as a team in a Game 6 close-out game on the road, but in the words of Kevin Garnett, anything is possible.