Amariyah Mallory 
The biggest names in the sports industry showed up for ESPN’s annual award show, the ESPYS at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The ceremony celebrates athletes and honors the winners of over 20 categories. These categories included best athlete in men and women’s sports, breakthrough athlete, athlete with a disability, record-breaking performance, championship performance and comeback athlete.
Dwyane Wade, Angel Reese, Sue Bird, Chris Paul, Mike Tyson, Travis Kelce, Damar Hamlin, Kyrie Irving, Lil Wayne, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Livvy Dunne, Tiffany Haddish, and Becky Lynch all made an appearance at the event.
There was no host at the 2023 ESPY’s, but the night did include a performance of “The Journey” from Grammy-winning artists H.E.R. in a tribute to the 30th anniversary of the V Foundation and late basketball coach Jimmy Valvano’s iconic speech at the first ESPYs.
The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT), Chicago White Sox pitcher and cancer survivor Liam Hendriks, The Buffalo Bills training staff were highlighted through the night for their triumphs on and off the field. The Arthur Ashe Award was awarded to USWNT for its ongoing pursuit for equal pay. The Jimmy V Award for Perseverance was awarded to Liam Hendricks, recognizing his strength as he overcame stage-4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Back in April Hendricks was happy to announce he was cancer free. Members of the Buffalo Bills training staff were awarded the Pat Tillman Award for saving the life of NFL player Damar Hamlin after he collapsed on the field due to cardiac arrest. Hamilin became emotional while honoring members of the staff.
“Thanks to their training, their poise, their commitment to serve others, the Bills training staff kept me alive,” Hamlin said. “I didn’t wake up that morning in January thinking that I would need someone to save my life that day, and I doubt that the training staff thought that they would have to do what they did either.”
In addition to the Arthur Ashe Award, Jimmy V Award for Perseverance and Pat Tillman Award, nominees were in contention for the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award, Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award, and Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year.
The winners of the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award were Jordan Adeyemi, Ashley Badis and Rishan Patel. The Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award went to Jamal Hill, Jrue Holiday. The Sports Humanitarian Team winner was San Antonio Spurs.
Best Record-Breaking Performance was awarded to Lebron James for the NBA career scoring record previously held by Kareem Abdul Jabar. James broke the record in February of this year. During his acceptance speech James confirmed that he will be back for the 2023-2024 NBA season.
“I don’t care how many more points I score, or what I can or cannot do on the floor,” James said during the awards show. “The real question for me is: Can I play without cheating this game? The day I can’t give everything on the floor is the day I’ll be done. Lucky for you guys, that day is not today.”
Did you have a favorite moment from the ESPY’s? If so, let us know. To see the full list of the winners of the evening you can click here.
By Amariyah Mallory, Sophomore, Whitney Young
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