The 2023 ESPY Awards have been handed out, and this year’s ESPY honorees include people behind some of the biggest stories in sports over the past year.
Among the highlights, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and skier Mikaela Shiffrin took home top honors, winning Best Athlete in men’s and women’s sports, respectively.
Naturally, the Chiefs took home Best Team, and Mahomes took home another ESPY for Best Player in the NFL, thanks to the team’s victory in Super Bowl LVII earlier this year, their second in 4 years. (Mahomes also led the Chiefs to Super Bowl victory in 2019.)
Angel Reese, the LSU women’s basketball star who led the team to the NCAA championship in 2023, and also led many people to reveal how racist they are when he celebrated his success in a way identical her main rival, Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark, but unlike Clark, who is white, was the subject of a false public outrage campaign – won Best New Athlete.
Clark, by the way. spoke in defense of Reese during the racist backlash he endured. She also scored 30 points in that championship game, the most of any player, which might explain why she won the Best Collegiate Athlete, Women’s Sports award, despite LSU beating the Hawkeyes 102-85. .
Meanwhile, NBA superstar LeBron James took home the award for best record performance by breaking Lakers great teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record during the 2022-2022 season. 2. 3.
Chicago White Sox pitcher Liam Hendricks has won the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance for his successful battle with cancer. The US Women’s Soccer Team received the Arthur Ashe Award for Valor. And the Pat Tillman Service Award went to the Buffalo Bills Coaching Staff.
Jrue Holiday of the Milwaukee Bucks and Lauren Holiday, retired women’s professional soccer star, received the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award. The Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award went to Jordan Adeyemi, Ashley Badis, Rishan Patel. And the Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year award went to the San Antonio Spurs.
Read on for the full list of winners.
Best Athlete, Men’s Sports: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Best Athlete, Women’s Sports: Mikaela Shiffrin, skiing
Best New Athlete: Angel Reese, LSU women’s basketball
Best Record Performance: LeBron James surpasses Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in his NBA career
scoring record
Best Championship Performance: Lionel Messi, Argentina – World Cup Final
Best Comeback Athlete: Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
Best play: Justin Jefferson with the catch of the century
The best team: Kansas City Chiefs
Best College Athlete, Men’s Sports: Caleb Williams, USC football
Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports: Caitlin Clark, Iowa women’s basketball
Best athlete with a disability: Zach Miller, snowboarding
Best NFL Player: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Best MLB Player: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles 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 Driver: Max Verstappen, F1
Best UFC Fighter: Jon Jones
Best boxer: Claressa Shields
Best soccer player: Lionel Messi, Argentina/PSG
Best golfer: scottie scheffler
Best tennis player: Novak Djokovic
SPECIAL PRIZES
Jimmy V Award for Perseverance: liam hendricks
Arthur Ashe Award for Courage: US women’s soccer team
Pat Tillman Service Award: Buffalo Bills coaching staff
SPORTS HUMANITARIAN AWARDS
Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award: Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks) and Lauren Holiday
(retired US women’s national team)
Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award: Jordan Adeyemi, Ashley Badis, Rishan Patel
Humanitarian Sports Team of the Year: Saint Anthony Spurs
Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award recipients: Dr. Richard Lapchick