{"id":21148,"date":"2022-07-21T10:16:55","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T10:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/golden-state-warriors-star-stephen-curry-hosts-espys-brings-awareness-to-detained-wnba-star-brittney-griner\/"},"modified":"2022-07-21T10:16:55","modified_gmt":"2022-07-21T10:16:55","slug":"golden-state-warriors-star-stephen-curry-hosts-espys-brings-awareness-to-detained-wnba-star-brittney-griner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/golden-state-warriors-star-stephen-curry-hosts-espys-brings-awareness-to-detained-wnba-star-brittney-griner\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry hosts ESPYS, brings awareness to detained WNBA star Brittney Griner"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Golden State Warriors were front and center at Wednesday night’s ESPYS, with host Stephen Curry taking home multiple awards and bringing attention to the plight of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who is being detained in Russia.<\/p>\n

Curry, who won ESPYS for Best NBA Player and for Best Record-Breaking Performance, joined WNBA players Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith to address Griner’s status during the show. The United States considers Griner wrongfully detained.<\/p>\n

“It’s been 153 nights now BG has been wrongfully detained that thousands of miles away from home, away from her family, away from her friends, away from her team,” Diggins-Smith said at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. throughout that time, we’ve kept her in our thoughts and in our hearts even though we know that ain’t nearly enough to bring her home, y’all.”<\/p>\n

Wearing Griner’s Phoenix Mercury jersey under his tracksuit, Curry noted the effort being made to free Griner.<\/p>\n

“But as we hope for the best, we urge the entire global sports community to continue to stay energized on her behalf,” he said. “She’s one of us, the team of athletes in this room tonight and all over the world. A team that has nothing to do with politics or global conflict.”<\/p>\n

They were applauded by Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, who was in the audience.<\/p>\n

In accepting her ESPYS award for Best Play, US soccer star Megan Rapinoe also drew attention to Griner.<\/p>\n

“I think honestly what we’ve witnessed tonight is the importance of sport and how much we can bring and how much we can get done in the world with our collective power,” Rapinoe said. “Every time we say her name, it puts pressure on everyone – puts pressure on the administration, puts pressure on Russia. The most striking thing is that BG is n’t here. BG deserves to be free.<\/p>\n

“We can support her more and let her know that we love her so much.”<\/p>\n

In addition to Curry’s two awards, his teammate Klay Thompson won the award for Best Comeback. Thompson made his triumphant return to action Jan. 9, after being sidelined for more than two years while rehabbing a pair of career-altering injuries.<\/p>\n

“It’s just an incredible honor,” Thompson said.<\/p>\n

The Warriors also took home the award for Best Team.<\/p>\n

It was the 29th year of the ESPYS, an event that helps raise awareness and funds for the V Foundation for Cancer Research. That charity was founded by ESPN and the late basketball coach Jim Valvano at the first ESPYS in 1993.<\/p>\n

Jimmy V Award for Perseverance<\/strong><\/p>\n

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20:44<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Watch Dick Vitale’s speech in full after he accepts the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the 2022 ESPYS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Iconic ESPN broadcaster Dick Vitale, 83, was the recipient of this year’s award.<\/p>\n

Last August, he announced he had undergone multiple surgeries to remove melanoma. In October, he announced he had been diagnosed with lymphoma. His chemotherapy treatment for lymphoma forced Vitale to step back from ESPN’s college basketball coverage.<\/p>\n

Vitale announced in April that he is cancer-free.<\/p>\n

“I sit here and tell you that, obviously, it’s been a tough eight months,” said Vitale, who thanked his wife, Lorraine, and his family. “If you know someone who is battling cancer, extend a message, send prayers. Those messages picked me up at the darkest moment. I hear Jimmy’s [Valvano] words in my head, ‘Don’t give up, don’t give up.’<\/p>\n

“We are not going to stop chasing the dream. Jimmy’s dream was to beat cancer, and we must do it.”<\/p>\n

Best Athlete, Women’s Sports<\/strong><\/p>\n

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2:12<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Katie Ledecky sends an inspirational message to young athletes in her speech for Best Athlete in Women’s Sports at the ESPYS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Swimming star Katie Ledecky took home the award, winning over gymnast Sunisa Lee, Chicago Sky star Candace Parker and Oksana Masters, a cross-country skier, cycler and biathlete.<\/p>\n

At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Ledecky won two golds to increase her career individual gold medal count to six. At the FINA World Championships this summer, she won four golds to become the most decorated female swimmer at the event, with 22 career world medals.<\/p>\n

In accepting her award, Ledecky implored young athletes to “find something you really love, that you’re good at, that can be a positive force in our world, something that can inspire somebody else, something that can help somebody else, anything that can change our world.”<\/p>\n

“I think there are so many heroes not just in sports but all around us,” she added. “Look to those people as role models and go for the gold.”<\/p>\n

Best Athlete, Men’s Sports<\/strong><\/p>\n

Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani took home the award in this category, beating out Curry, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid.<\/p>\n

Ohtani also won the Best MLB Player trophy over Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies, Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Jorge Soler of the Atlanta Braves.<\/p>\n

Ohtani was the unanimous winner of the American League MVP award last fall, amassing 46 home runs and making 23 starts on the mound for the Angels.<\/p>\n

Arthur Ashe Award for Courage<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vitali Klitschko, the Hall of Fame boxer and mayor of Kyiv, was honored with the award.<\/p>\n

The mayor of Ukraine’s capital since 2014, the former heavyweight champion is a longtime outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Klitschko has served as one of the faces of the resistance, along with his younger brother and fellow Hall of Famer, Wladimir. The Klitschkos took up arms in a territorial defense battalion in Kyiv; fellow boxers Vasiliy Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk followed suit in other parts of Ukraine.<\/p>\n