Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:10 — 8.8MB) | Embed
Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I once won the 3-point contest while trying out for my high school basketball team, but didn’t make the team, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a lessons I learned from NBA MVP Kevin Durant.
Golden Spiral Media now has a Patreon page! Patreon provides a way for you to financially support Golden Spiral Media for as little as $1 a month. In return, we’ll be able to do some cool things and improve some of the things that we do. Additionally, you’ll get some cool stuff in return for your support. Head over to www.goldenspiralmedia.com/patreon for more info.
Friday Forum
Friday Forum is your opportunity to Share what YOU’VE learned, so that other listeners and I can learn from YOU. It can be a message as short as 30 seconds or several minutes long. It really doesn’t matter just as long as it’s something that will benefit others. You can participate in Friday Forum by calling and leaving a message at 304-837-2278, emailing an audio file to feedback@goldenspiralmedia.com, or clicking on the Send Voicemail tab on my website, GoldenSpiralMedia.com.
What I Learned Yesterday:
I love Kevin Durant. Outside of choosing to go to college at the University of Texas, the guy is everything you’d like a guy to be. He’s funny, caring, athletic, good looking, humble, and has a great attitude. In case you don’t follow sports, Kevin Durant is a small forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder and he’s one of the best basketball players on the planet. This year he won his 4th scoring title, and yesterday he won the MVP of the NBA.
For those of us who live in OKC and get to watch Kevin interact with the community and play every night, we know just how amazing of a person he is. He is selfless, deflects praise to those around him, acknowledges his shortcomings, and is ALWAYS giving of what he has to make the lives of those around him better. He may have been acknowledged by the NBA as the MVP yesterday, but he’s been the MVP of OKC since he first stepped foot here in 2008.
Yesterday afternoon about 3:30 I was starting to panic because I still had no idea what today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday would be about. I was walking through the living room of our house on my way to the studio just at Kevin Durant’s MVP press conference started. I decided to sit down and watch it and almost instantly knew that I’d just found my inspiration in the words of the 6’ 9” man from Maryland.
After a great introduction from Brian Davis, the play by play voice of the Thunder, a few words from Kevin’s coach, the team general manager, and a representative from Kia, Kevin took the stage.
He didn’t just thank God, his teammates, coaches, fans and all the other people you’d expect. He thanked them each by name. He took time to mention every single teammate, tell them why they are special to him, and acknowledge how they helped him win the award. He said that when something good happens, he looks back at what brought him there. Here are some of the things he said.
To Derek Fisher, a guy that is 13 years older than Kevin and has been in the league over 17 years and has won 5 NBA championships, Kevin said that Derek motivates him to be better. He said that Derek demonstrates a desire to always learn and even as an NBA veteran, will be the first to join Kevin to shoot around and get better at his game.
The first teammate Kevin had as a pro was Nick Collison. He praised Nick for believing in him from the first day they met.
Kevin thanked Kendrick Perkins for encouraging him. Kevin said that there were times this season when Kevin would be down after a tough game, and Perkins would text him to tell him that he still believed in Kevin and that he was the MVP.
Kevin also thanked Thabo Sefolosha for putting the team first, believing in him, and encouraging him.
Kevin even took time to personally thank guys who have recently joined the team. Caron Butler joined the Thunder just over 2 months ago. One night after the Thunder had lost 2 or 3 games in a row, Caron put a note in Kevin’s locker that simply said, “KD MVP.” It gave Kevin the confidence he needed and neither of them had mentioned the note until that moment.
Serge Ibaka is one of the big men on the Thunder roster. He 6’ 10” and is one of the best shot blockers in the league. One of his roles is to be near the basket, get rebounds for missed shots, and keep the ball in the Thunder’s possession. Kevin thanked him for his work to clean up everyone’s mistakes and making them look better than they are.
Kevin spoke about third year player Reggie Jackson as a true friend and said that he cares about him as a person, how his life is going off the court, and said that Reggie always puts himself last.
Of course, Kevin also spoke about the Thunder’s other all-star player, Russell Westbrook. Russell is a guy that plays with a tremendous amount of emotion and intensity. Kevin said that Russell would run through a wall for him, and Kevin would do the same. Kevin tries to demonstrate the best work ethic on the team and always be the first to arrive. Russell has that same drive and they’ve both been pushed to be better because of it.
That’s only a little over half the team. He said something positive about every single one of his teammates. He went on to thank the team owner Clay Bennett, and the General Manager, Sam Presti. He told Sam that the team and the community were blessed to have him. He didn’t stop there. He thanked the trainers and support staff who do the jobs that no one ever sees, but helps everyone on the team become better.
He then thanked head coach Scott Brooks. Scott has been one of Kevin’s coaches since Kevin first came to the NBA and Kevin thanked him for always believing in him and pushing him to be better. No matter what time of day or what season of the year, Scott has always been available to help Kevin. Most of all, Kevin thanked Scott for helping him become a better man off the court.
Kevin wasn’t done.
He thanked the fans. Thousands of them were gathered around the Thunder Community Event Center where the event was being held. He told them that he was grateful for their unending support and the way they embrace every player even though each of them is still a work in progress.
Kevin ended by thanking his family. He thanked his older brother, Tony, for teaching him to believe in himself and telling Kevin he could do it, even when Kevin didn’t think it was possible. Kevin thanked his dad for being there and sending him encouraging text messages every day, and he thanked his little brother, Rayvonne. He knew that Rayvonne was following his footsteps, and it pushed him to be his best.
At this point in the press conference I am beyond impressed with him. The sincerity and emotion with which he delivered praise and gratitude around all of those around him was refreshing. He wasn’t just saying the things that you’re supposed to say when you win something of that magnitude, he was overcome with emotion as he lifted up every single person who made him what he is.
But he wasn’t done. Kevin still had his mom on his list. Rather than try and tell you what he said, I’ll let you hear it for yourself.
It seems only fitting that on this week leading up to mother’s day, Kevin would say such kind and praising words about the woman who sacrificed so much so that he and his brothers could have as much as possible. She made him run, do push ups, and stay off the streets. The odds were stacked against them He said that they weren’t supposed to be here.
Here’s what I learned.
No one, NO ONE get’s anywhere alone. Even the most casual observer can look at Kevin Durant and point out a few people who helped him get where he is, but the reality is there are people who helped Kevin get to this position that even Kevin isn’t aware of.
Everyone has a role. In Kevin’s life, some had the role of coach, teammate, mentor, provider, or encourager. Some had roles that are seen, and others that are unseen. Not all roles that are seen are the most important roles. While Kevin’s name will be the one in the record books, he never would have done it alone.
I’ll close today with two direct quotes from Kevin’s speech.
• Basketball is just a platform in order for me to inspire people, and I realize that.
• I had so much help. So many people believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. So many people doubted me and motivated me every single day to be who I am. I fell so many times and got back up.
I’m glad to have Kevin Durant as a part of the NBA, and a representative of the team that calls Oklahoma City their home. I’m glad that he demonstrates humility, leadership, and heaps praise on those around him. I think we can all learn plenty from a guy like that.
I’m Darrell Darnell and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.
If you want to see the entire MVP acceptance speech from Kevin, visit www.nba.com/thunder/team/2014_mvp.
If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, I would be grateful if you’d leave a review in iTunes.
[sc:stuff]