A TRIBUTE TO KEVIN DURANT
(Loosely from NBA Award 2014)
It was a Saturday evening as I sat with eyes fixed
on the television. I was fortunate to watch from a
close range which was actually because the
football match was over and all had left with just
I and two other fellows remaining at the viewing
center. The taller fellow was enjoying a coca cola
drink and from his wild utterances seemed to love
the footballer Messi so much. The channel was a
sports channel and so remained unchanged. But
then there was a change of programme from
football to basketball and it was the NBA Award
Night.
I remained glued to my seat in anticipation of the
season's highlights and to enjoy some marvelous
dunkings. The presenter, a man that looked
wealthy, announced that it was time for the NBA
Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. The auditorium
which was a bit noisy came to a still. The
audience's faces expressed nervousness and
tension. One fat woman covered her face with both
palms while at the same time shaking her legs. At
the other end one thick-bearded player made a
round bulge appear on the both sides of his cheek,
opened his mouth and blew out the air. He was no
longer at ease.
Then came the name which has ever since
remained in my mind, it was the winner - Kevin
Durant. The tall elegant dark-skinned dude came
out in a neatly ironed blue suit and a pair of eyeglasses amidst thunderous applauses from the
audience. At first he seemed to be lacking the
power of speech as he made some fruitless efforts
to speak. Then appeared some drops of tears from
his left eye which he wiped with the left index
finger. Finally he spoke. "First of all I wish to give
thanks to almighty God who has been with me and
my family throughout these years", he took a deep
breath and continued, "I wanna thank also my
coach for believing in me, and my teammates for
supporting and tolerating me...." While he was
recounting his ordeals I heard him say, "I have
been through a lot of tough times with my family;
my mother, I and my brother. But thank God that
today I'm here." As he spoke a woman who was
sitting at the end of one row looked as if she was
bouncing until the camera allowed us a closer view,
she was sobbing and wiping the tears with a white
handkerchief. It must have been Kevin's mother.
His speech that evening centered on: hard times,
hard work, success and gratitude. I immediately
remembered the story of the Anambra-born
billionaire, Innocent Chukwuma OON (Innoson)
I have since that day been reflecting on the popular
saying: there is always light at the end of the
tunnel. At least Kevin Durant is a perfect example. I
have also come to the assurance that not one or
two but indeed many are going through some
tough challenges at the moment. It could be
financially, academically, psychologically or
spiritually, my words are simple: do not loose hope
for joy comes in the morning.
- @ciboura