The ESPY Awards may celebrate โthe best players, moments, coaches and games in sports,โ but many of this yearโs Black award winners are equally adept at advocacy and compassion, as evidenced during the ceremony that took place Saturday in New York City, hosted by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier star Anthony Mackie.
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For instance, Marcus Rashford may have been on the receiving end of racist vitriol in England on Sunday following the European Championship, but on Saturday, he scored the ESPYs Pat Tillman Award for Service for successfully challenging the UK Parliament to continue providing free school meals to children during the pandemic. As he and his mother explained in a video, the social service is one that enabled him and to get through his own childhood.
As previously reported by The Root, WNBA star Maya Moore was awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award for her work in criminal justice reform, coincidentally on what would have been Asheโs 78th birthday. Moore was escorted to the stage to receive her award by husband Jonathan Irons, whose wrongful conviction she helped overturn after 22 years.
โThese sacrifices we make in sports are great, but I would invite you to see them as just pointers to the sacrifices of life that matter most, the ones that are centered around helping each other live to the fullest,โ she said (h/t People magazine). โSacrificing the power you have to humanize someone else. Power is not meant to be gripped with a clenched fist or to be hoarded. But power is meant to be handled generously so we can thoughtfully empower one another to thrive in our communities for lovesโ sake, championing our humanity before our ambitions.โ
Several moments in sports history were also honored on Saturday; Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair won Best WWE Moment for making history as the first Black women to be featured at a WrestleMania main event, while Russell Westbrookโs breaking of Oscar Robertsonโs 47-year-old triple-double record garnered him Best Record-Breaking Performance. And while Naomi Osaka may have withdrawn from Wimbledon, she not only earned the ESPY for Best Athlete, Womenโs Tennis, but also Best Athlete, Womenโs Sports. Best Championship Performance? That went to the GOAT of gymnastics, Simone Biles.
Other ESPY-winning Black excellence included:
Best Play: Arizona Cardinalsโ Kyler Murrayโs โHail Maryโ to DeAndre Hopkins
Best Breakthrough Athlete: LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets
Best College Athlete, Menโs Sports: DeVonta Smith, Alabama football
Best NBA Player: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
Best Driver:ย Lewis Hamilton, F1
While she wasnโt an ESPY winner (yet), one of the eveningโs highlights was Mackieโs shoutout to ESPY attendee and 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion Zaila Avant-Gardeโalso a multiple Guinness World Record-holding athlete in her own right, for the most basketballs dribbled simultaneously, most basketball bounces, and most bounce juggles in one minute.
โIโm most excited tonight because one of my favorite athletes from New Orleans is in the house. Sorry, Drew Breesโyouโre old news, all right,โ the fellow New Orleanian quipped. โYou donโt count no more. Iโm talking about the spelling bee champ.
โThatโs NOLAโs finest right there, but Iโm going to let you pass for being from across that river, though,โ Mackie added, alluding to NOLAโs West Bank-East Bank rivalry (h/t SaintsWire). โWe donโt got to talk about that.โ
For a look at the ESPYS red carpet, see below. You can see the full list of winners on ESPNโs website.
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