The Oklahoma City Thunder point guard brought home another award on Wednesday night after he was named best athlete – men’s sports at the ESPYS
— ESPN’s annual award show.
“It’s a dream come true and for dreams to come true it takes a village,” Gilegeous-Alexander said, thanking his wife, parents, brother and others. “Those names probably don’t mean much but to me they mean everything.”
The ESPY adds to a staggering list of accolades the Hamilton, Ont., native added this season.
Not only did Gilgeous-Alexander lead the Thunder to their first NBA championship and the league’s best record, he swept most major individual NBA awards — winning regular-season and NBA Finals MVP honours and the scoring title.
He was rewarded for his historic season when he signed a record-setting four-year, $285-million extension with the Thunder on Canada Day. The deal is the highest single-season average salary in NBA history.
The Canadian wasn’t the only one to earn some hardware on Wednesday.
Simone Biles won two trophies at the ESPYS, including the women’s best athlete award.
The 11-time Olympic medallist claimed the night’s first award, best championship performance for her efforts at the Paris Games. She won three golds and a silver while helping the U.S. women’s gymnasts win their first team title since 2016.
“That was very unexpected, especially in a category of all men,” Biles said after kissing her husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens.
She beat out Stephen Curry, Freddie Freeman and Rory McIlroy.
Biles’ Olympic teammate, Suni Lee, won the best comeback award for overcoming two rare kidney diseases. She brought one of her doctors to the show.
Basketball Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson accepted the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage from point guard Russell Westbrook.
Robertson was president of the NBA Players’ Association at the time of a landmark antitrust lawsuit against the NBA in 1970. It led to an extensive reform of the league’s strict free agency and draft rules and eventually to higher salaries for all players.
The 86-year-old Robertson, a 12-time All-Star known as The Big O during his career, was the first Black president of any sports labour union
Former WNBA superstar Diana Taurasi and U.S. national women’s soccer team star Alex Morgan shared the Icon Award in recognition of their careers and major impact on sports.
An emotional Katie Schumacher-Cawley accepted the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance with her husband and children joining in the standing ovation. The Penn State women’s volleyball coach was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer in September. She continued coaching without missing a practice and became the first woman to guide a team to the NCAA national championship.
Former athletes David Walters and Erin Regan accepted the Pat Tillman Award for Service, given to those who have served in a way that honours the legacy of the former NFL player and U.S. Army Ranger.
Basketball player Cameron Boozer and track and field athlete Jane Hedengren were named the Gatorade Best Male and Female Players of the Year, given to the best high school athletes.
— With files from the Associated Press
