LOS ANGELES — Led by host Serena Williams, The ESPYS celebrated a landmark 12 months for ladies’s sports activities, with Simone Biles, A’ja Wilson, Caitlin Clark, Daybreak Staley and JuJu Watkins among the many honorees Thursday evening.
Staley, coach of the nationwide champion South Carolina ladies’s basketball staff, obtained the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance for each her help and struggle for equality for ladies’s sports activities and for her management within the struggle towards most cancers. Her buddy, Tennessee standout Nikki McCray-Penson, died of breast most cancers and Staley’s sister was identified with leukemia. Staley was motivated by their battles to turn into an advocate for most cancers analysis.
“I need to confess I really feel a little bit undeserving of this recognition. Previous recipients of the Jimmy V Perseverance Award have confronted unimaginable challenges and confirmed themselves as true warriors,” Staley mentioned. “I’ve merely been a spectator to such immense braveness and resilience.”
Staley’s Gamecocks additionally gained the perfect staff award.
Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces gained as finest ladies’s sports activities athlete and as finest WNBA participant.
“It is loopy to assume {that a} younger woman that did not even wish to play basketball is now up within the operating for even one ESPY,” she mentioned in videotaped remarks.
Biles earned finest comeback athlete weeks earlier than she competes on the Paris Olympics. Probably the most embellished gymnast in historical past withdrew from the staff competitors on the Tokyo Video games to prioritize her psychological well being.
Clark of the Indiana Fever additionally earned two trophies, for record-breaking efficiency in turning into the NCAA’s all-time profession scoring chief, and as finest school athlete, for her Iowa basketball profession.
“I am a little bit bit busy in Indianapolis,” Clark mentioned by way of videotape. “It was a particular 12 months in ladies’s athletics.”
Watkins gained finest breakthrough athlete, taking the primary award after President Joe Biden’s nationally televised information convention began late and ran half-hour into the present’s timeslot.
The USC basketball star had a standout freshman season, main the Trojans to the Elite Eight of the NCAA match for the primary time in many years.
“That is loopy,” Watkins mentioned. “I wish to thank all the good, highly effective ladies who got here earlier than me that made this attainable.”
Williams joked throughout her monologue on the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and later sang after Ciara opened the present with a musical efficiency. Williams’ older sister, Venus, got here out and joked that she had truly been requested to host and the siblings bought right into a mock argument.
“You might be questioning why I am doing this,” famous trend fiend Serena mentioned. “Any alternative to put on 16 outfits in three hours, I’ll take it.”
The ABC telecast returned from a industrial break within the remaining minutes and started repeating the displays of two earlier awards. Williams’ goodbye was lower off, as had been the ultimate credit. ABC mentioned a technical glitch within the feed affected the reside present within the East and Central time zones. It was to be corrected for tape-delayed viewing within the West.
Prince Harry obtained the Pat Tillman Award for Service, and he talked about the late Military Ranger’s mom who had criticized ESPN for honoring the royal.
With spouse Meghan becoming a member of in a standing ovation, the Duke of Sussex accepted the trophy from three service veterans who had been injured throughout their excursions of responsibility. Harry served within the British army for 10 years, together with two excursions in Afghanistan as a helicopter pilot.
He created the Invictus Video games in 2014, which serves as a multisport, paralympic-style video games for wounded or injured servicemen and veterans.
“This award belongs to them, to not me,” Harry mentioned.
Tillman’s mom, Mary Tillman, had criticized ESPN’s selection of Harry, saying there are recipients working within the veteran neighborhood who would have been extra becoming. Harry thanked Tillman’s widow, Marie, for her attendance and in addition acknowledged Mary Tillman.
“Her advocacy for Pat’s legacy is deeply private and one which I respect,” he mentioned. “The bond between a mom and son is everlasting and transcends even the best losses.”
Retired NFL security Steve Gleason was honored with the Arthur Ashe Award for Braveness. He was identified with ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig’s illness, in 2011. His nonprofit, Crew Gleason, helps folks with ALS reside purposeful lives by offering programming and help providers.
Gleason obtained a standing ovation when he took the stage in a motorized chair and was kissed by former New Orleans Saints teammate Drew Brees. Gleason’s voice was heard by way of particular expertise. His younger son, Rivers, stood subsequent to his father and held the trophy.
“For me, this honor represents some encouragement and triumph for the households at present dwelling with ALS, all of the folks dwelling with disabilities or different sicknesses,” he mentioned. “I suppose when you’ve got by no means skilled concern, isolation or struggling, you may roll your sanctified ass proper out of right here.”
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers was finest MLB participant; Connor McDavid of the Stanley Cup runner-up Edmonton Oilers was finest NHL participant; and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks was finest NBA participant.
The perfect males’s sports activities athlete was Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He additionally claimed finest NFL participant.
Cooper Flagg, a senior guard-forward from Montverde (Florida) Academy, and monitor and discipline athlete Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura (California) Excessive gained the Gatorade Nationwide Gamers of the Yr.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
