After winning the Most Valuable Player award, Kevin Durant referred to his mom as "the real MVP" and it sparked a lot of memes, which, irked Durant according to a GQ interview.
"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."
One of the most prevalent memes joked that KD was referring to Russell Westbrook. Sure enough, the jokes seemed prophetic especially last year when Durant missed most of the season due to an injury.
Of course, everybody thought that Westbrook was just warming the seat until Durant came back. Or maybe not.
It was an interesting visit to Washington, with the backdrop of Durant calling the Wizards' fans efforts to woo him as "disrespectful" to their own team. So instead, the crowd just booed him. KD eventually left the game in the second half with an apparent hamstring strain, and Westbrook took care of business as NBC recounted.
"As we saw last season, with Durant out it was the Russell Westbrook show. OKC led by 18 at the half and cruised home to the 125-101 win. Westbrook had a triple-double -22 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists in 28 minutes - while Dion Waiters had 25 points on 10 shots to lead the Thunder in scoring."
Westbrook is a legitimate MVP candidate himself, as he rampaged through the league last season. Kevin Durant recently acknowledged during the Raptors game that they "let the best player Russell Westbrook just control the game." (h/t SB Nation)
Has KD really relinquished his alpha dog status in the Thunder? Considering KD's humility, he would probably be fine with it if they win the championship. If not, Durant may reconsider his sacrifice as loads of other teams are ready to give the full reins to Kevin Durant.