The ESPY Awards (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) took place on Wednesday night at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
One of the more emotional moments of the show was the Buffalo Bills training staff being honored with the Pat Tillman Award for Service. The staff was introduced by Damar Hamlin, and was thanked by the tearful Buffalo safety for saving his life.The Jimmy V Award for Perseverance was given to Liam Hendriks of the Chicago White Sox. The three-time All-Star closer began treatment for non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in January, and four months later returned to the mound after announcing he was in remission.
Other bigger highlights of the night included the San Antonio Spurs being honored as the Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year for helping the community in Uvalde, Texas, heal after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in May 2022. The team held practices in Uvalde and volunteered and raised funds for the community. The United States Women’s National Soccer Team took home the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage for the years long fight for equal pay with the men’s side, finally getting a deal reached in May 2022. LeBron James was also honored Wednesday night for becoming the top scorer in NBA history, and made it known during his speech that he isn’t done saying, “The day I can’t give the game everything on the floor is the day I’ll be done. Lucky for you guys, that day is not today”. Here is the rest of the list of all the winners at the ESPY Awards-
Best Athlete (Men’s)- Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Best Athlete (Women’s)- Mikaela Shiffrin, USA Olympic Skier
Best Team- Kansas City Chiefs
Best Play- Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
Best Breakthrough Athlete- Angel Reese, LSU Women’s Basketball
Best Championship Performance- Lionel Messi, Argentina Men’s Soccer
Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Awards- Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks) and Lauren Holiday (former US Women’s National Soccer Team Forward)- for their work in uplifting black communities, including small businesses, non-profits, and donations to historically black colleges and universities
Best Comeback Athlete- Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
Best College Athlete (Men’s)- Caleb Williams, USC Football
Best College Athlete (Women’s)- Caitlin Clark, Iowa Basketball
Best NFL Player- Patrick Mahomes, KC Chiefs
Best MLB Player- Shohei Ohtani, LA Angels
Best NHL Player- Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Best NBA Player- Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Best WNBA Player- A’Ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
Best Athlete with a disability- Zach Miller, snowboarder
Best Driver- Max Verstappen, Formula 1
Best UFC Fighter- Jon Jones
Best Boxer- Claressa Shields
Best Soccer Player- Lionel Messi
Best Golfer- Scottie Scheffler
Best Tennis Player- Novak Djokovic
Story by Chris Lessner/Videos courtesy of ESPN
Damar Hamlin presenting the Pat Tillman Award for Service to the Bills' training staff at the @ESPYS is pretty awesome. pic.twitter.com/Lbt5B6yTYF
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 13, 2023
What a speech, Liam Hendriks 🥹
Join us and @TheVFoundation in the fight against cancer. https://t.co/6NwFh2XdEK pic.twitter.com/mLZ6pUAEZk
— ESPN (@espn) July 13, 2023