Watch Kevin Durant’s Incredible Tribute to His Mother: “You Are the Real MVP”

Kevin Durant, a splendid NBA player, just won the 2014 MVP award. During his speech, he paid powerful tribute to his mother, who raised him and his brother Tony by herself. Watch the clip above.

You need to watch this speech. It is the anti-celebrity soundbite event. Instead of celebrating himself, and using the public occasion to settle scores or knock down his competition (see Jordan, Michael), Durant praises every single one of his teammates, greatest to weakest, and cries while doing so. I’m stunned by this public display of humility. It’s so counter-cultural. It reminds me that humility is profoundly Godlike, more specifically, Christlike. When you see a great figure like Durant displaying humility in a moment of triumph, you’re seeing a pale reflection of a much greater moment of humility by a much greater man.

You’re also seeing a testament to the power of a mother. This is incredible stuff: for a woman to be on her own, left to herself by Durant’s father, and somehow heroically raise such an accomplished and yet others-centered man. I’m just blown away by that level of self-sacrifice. You will be too.