Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant talks retirement, appreciation for mom on TV One series

Sonya Curry felt some kind of way when Kevin Durant left Golden State for Brooklyn after winning back-to-back NBA titles (2017, 2018) and three straight finals appearances with her son, Stephen Curry.

“I was kind of mad at him when he left,” she said.

Sitting across from Sonya Curry, Wanda Durant didn’t totally feel the decision, either.

“You know what, we would’ve had 20 rings by now,” Wanda Durant said. “And it was about 10 years ago. That’s how cold they were, right.”

And all Lucille O’Neal, the mother of Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, could do is sit in the middle and laugh at their interaction.

This was a lighthearted moment in TV One’s latest “Raising Fame” episode Sunday on Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant hosted by NBA mothers Sonya Curry and Lucille O’Neal.

Magic Johnson, Fantasia and Chance The Rapper have been featured in the series.

'Entertainment & IQ':Kevin Durant trolls Dennis Schroder after USA gold medal with post

Durant pondering retirement

This latest one-hour episode explores the early struggles Wanda Durant experienced raising Kevin Durant and his older brother, Tony, as she contemplated suicide, finding herself and how proud she is of her NBA son.

In turn, Kevin Durant discussed having the dream of being an NBA player at eight years old, his mom’s support and even addressed the thought of retirement as he enters his 18^th NBA season. Durant has two years left on his four-year, $194 million contract.

“As I get older in the league and the league is getting younger, I tend to think about retirement more,” he said. “… Should I stop thinking about it? What is that? But it creeps in my mind for sure.”

TV One filmed this in Phoenix, but it aired the day after Durant became the first to win four Olympic gold medals in men’s basketball as he helped Team USA top France 98-87, in Saturday’s final in Paris. Durant teamed up with LeBron James and his former Warriors teammate, Stephen Curry, in leading the men’s national team to a fifth straight Olympic gold medal.

After the game, Durant, with the American flag draped over his shoulders, shared a moment with his mom as the two hugged.

The final segment of Sunday’s “Raising Fame” episode ended with a mother-son embrace.

“I can’t believe you,” Wanda Durant said as her smiling son fell back into her arms.

'I sacrificed my suicide'

Their joy reflects the current state of their journey filled with struggles, blessings and success that began with Wanda Durant being a young parent at age 21 having to raise two boys.

Holding back tears, Wanda Durant said Kevin Durant’s birth was scary for her.

“I wasn’t expecting a little boy because I wanted a little girl because I already had a son, but it was a scary day because, I knew my job was hard,” Wanda Durant said. “I had two young men, two babies that I had to raise to be young men.”

Wanda Durant found herself in the darkest place wondering if she wanted to continue living.

“To be quite honest with you, my sons were my saving grace,” she said. “They saved my life and I know there may be mothers out there thinking, who don’t know the direction of their lives and they have the responsibility of children in their hands, just don’t quit. I wanted to quit, but I knew that there would be no one on this earth that would take care of my sons the way that I did.”  

Durant was born Sept. 29, 1988, in Washington D.C.

“People say, ‘What did you sacrifice?’ And to be quite honest, I sacrificed my suicide,” a tearful Wanda Durant continued. “It still hurts to this day that I was in a place because I didn’t see a future for me that I didn’t want to be here anymore, but I knew I had to stay for my children. So that’s what I decided to do. I didn’t have a plan. I just knew I had to stay.”

Hearing Wanda Durant share her story led to Sonya Curry talking about conceiving Stephen Curry at age 21 after choosing to have an abortion at age 19.

She thought about having another abortion before deciding to keep Stephen Curry.

“Sitting in a parking lot going to have an abortion and not have him, and in that moment, God saying to me, ‘You’re not doing it,’” Sonya Curry said. “I’m just sitting here feeling that again with you because not only did you not have a plan, but you were going to sacrifice yourself to escape that, and I applaud you for that strength to just know deep down there was a reason. God was showing you a reason for them.”

'You're the real MVP'

Wanda Durant talked about squandering $1,000 she received from her mom and later having to move her family out of her mom’s house.

The Durants lived with her former in-laws until Wanda Durant found an apartment in Prince George’s County Maryland’s District Heights, the same place Kevin Durant described when calling his mom, "the real MVP” during his NBA MVP speech in 2014 while playing for Oklahoma.

“No bed, no furniture, and we just all sat in the living room hugging each other,” Durant said in the speech with his mom tearing up in the crowd. “We thought we made it. You made us believe. You kept us off the streets, put clothes on our back, food on the table. When you didn’t eat, you made sure we ate. You sacrificed for us. You’re the real MVP.”

Kevin Durant reflected on how Wanda Durant raised him and his brother with discipline and the necessity of that. He appreciates her taking him to and from basketball practice and believing in his dream to play in the NBA.

“She actually spoke to us about being great and to have confidence in ourselves and believe in what we do,” Durant said. “As time goes on, you start to think back, and those moments mean something to you. She was just a constant reminder that we could be great, and I didn’t know that I needed that until I got older, but she was steadily on me because I lacked confidence. My brother lacked confidence, but she continued to tell us it’s OK to seek greatness. That’s why we’re here today.”

Wanda Durant used sports to help her sons learn values and discipline as well an opportunity to support them without favoritism.

“As you know, when you have more than one child, everybody is pining for your attention at the house,” she said. “So, I said, if I put them in sports, then I can cheer them on individually and they wouldn’t get jealous of the other.”

Kevin Durant admitted he wants his mom to trust him at the same level she trusted his older brother, but he also shared a laugh with Sonya Curry and Lucille O’Neal in saying they had to dress alike as kids.

“When we would get into it, we had to hug in the middle of the street, but as much as she forced that on us, it was making us tighter as a bond,” Durant said. “And we realize how different we are and when you realize you and your brother are different, I think that’s when the relationship can become better.”

'I only had that one option'

Durant later went into detail about having chores despite being the nation’s top basketball player, his mom telling him to never complain – and seeing her live that way in raising him and his brother.

“It was never, 'Oh, I got to go to work today, or I got to drop ya’ll off at your grandma’s house and go all the around the other side of town and go to work and be back,' it was none of that,” he said. “… You’re either going to work or you’re not and that was instilled in me from day one. You’re either going to quit or you’re going to work – and you ain’t quitting. So, I only had that one option.”

Wanda Durant later took a moment to discuss being known as an NBA mom and how she had to trust her son and build a different relationship with him being an adult.

Once Kevin Durant and his brother reached a point of wanting to run their business without their mom, a move she admitted “devastated” her, Wanda Durant said she began working on herself.

“I learned to cultivate more of who Wanda was,” she said. “I went through a journey of therapy for six years to find out who I am. I know my good, bad and my ugly. Nobody can tell me who I am and who I’m not and that’s a peaceful place to be in.”

'You got to chill'

Wanda Durant has always wanted her son to be more open to dispel some of the criticism he receives, but she is “more than proud” of the man he’s become.

“Even through our adversities and our challenges, you’ve always stood on being Kevin,” she said with emotion while sitting across from him on the couch. “When you face challenges from fans or basketball or because of the decisions you make, you stand on who you are and it may cost you likes and positive comments, but you stand always and I’m so proud of that and so proud of who you are as a man.”

With a grin, Durant replied, “Thank you, Mom.”

Then without hesitation, Wanda Durant expressed the blessing of being Kevin Durant’s mother.

“And I'm so proud of how good you take care of your mama," she said.

Everyone laughed, especially Durant, who leaned his head back over the top of the couch.

“You got to chill,” a still laughing Durant said.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin. Support local journalism. Start your online subscription.

(Help is available for anyone experiencing a mental health crisis 24-hours a day by calling or texting the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.)