When it comes to glitz, glamour, and gripping stories, the 2024 ESPY Awards which aired live on Thursday, July 11 on ABC certainly did not disappoint. The fanfare took its roots in this year’s host, former tennis superstar and all-around icon Serena Williams. The 2024 ESPYs may just serve as the launching pad for the birth of a new entertainment star.
Hosting a long, involved, and wide-ranging awards show is hard, and Willams was absolutely terrific. We all know that Williams has charisma. She set new trends and was a groundbreaking presence on the court – not only with her play, but with her style, flair, and dramatics. But did you know that she could deliver jokes with dead on timing and even sing?
Williams brought all of this to the ESPY Awards stage. She kept the show moving at a pace that rivaled her own swiftness on the tennis court. For those who were wondering what the heck Serena Williams was doing hosting the ESPYs, she stated, “You may be wondering why I’m doing this. First of all, any opportunity to wear 16 outfits in three hours, I’m going to take it.”
Of course, there was no shortage of superstar talent to go along with Williams. With nominees such as Jaylen Brown, Caitlin Clark, Coco Gauff, Patrick Mahomes, and Shohei Ohtani, the ESPYs indeed lived up to its moniker as the Oscars of sports.
The vast array of celebrity and sports presenters was equally amazing. Personalities gracing the stage included Quinta Brunson, Nikki Glaser, Rob Lowe, Paige Bueckers, Draymond Green, Lindsey Vonn, and Candace Parker, among others.
The group of names I just mentioned truly defines the underlying essence of the ESPY Awards, namely, diversity. More than any other awards show on television, the ESPYS are all about bringing people from different walks of life together, bonded by a common love of sports.
It has been said many times that entertainers want to be athletes and athletes want to be entertainers. On no stage is this more apparent than the ESPYs. The event is all about gigantic personalities dating back to 1993 and the epic speech by the late ESPN broadcaster and college basketball coach, Jim Valvano.
Valvano was the epitome of showmanship both on the sidelines and on the air, and his emotional 1993 ESPY speech is now the stuff of legend.
Suffering from cancer, Valvano was brilliant, telling people to laugh, cry, and think every day while making the audience in attendance and at home do all three at once. It was this speech that essentially founded the V Foundation for Cancer Research, the ESPYs charitable arm and an organization that has helped raise more than $200 million for cancer research.
Indeed, the ESPYS are not just about 2024, but about history. The program always brings to mind Valvano as well as the late ESPN superstar anchor Stuart Scott, who gave his own memorable ESPY speech in 2014 just months before succumbing to cancer in January 2015. The images of Valvano and Scott hover over the ESPY stage like angels looking down in satisfaction that the cause continues.
In addition to awards for best athletes, teams, and moments, the 2024 ESPYS also continued the tradition of special honorees. Former New Orleans Saints’ safety Steve Gleason, who has valiantly and publicly fought ALS for years, received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage.
University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance named after the aforementioned Valvano, and Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, received the Pat Tillman Award for Service in recognition of his work helping veterans.
Still, it was the Gleason presentation that stood out for me. The Ashe Award is given to individuals whose contributions transcend sports and reflect the spirit of Ashe with strength, courage, and a willingness to stand up for their beliefs in the face of adversity. Many have followed him, but it was Gleason who truly gave a high profile face to the debilitating disease that is ALS.
In response to receiving the honor, Gleason wrote on Instagram, “My aim has always been to see if we can discover peace and freedom with the love of life, in the midst of extreme adversity. Being recognized at the 2024 ESPYs is not just an honor, but a powerful platform to further help and serve others.”
The ritzy Dolby Theater in Los Angeles served as the perfect venue for this star-studded event. Perhaps the best part of the ESPY Awards each year is the mingling of past and present. It’s great to see the likes of ESPN’s Chris Berman and other sports veterans on stage, along with new stars in both athletics and entertainment.
The award categories were, as always, filled with superstar names, but the Men’s Sports, Best Athlete group is worth noting. This year’s nominees included Patrick Mahomes, Shohei Ohtani, Scottie Scheffler, and Connor McDavid. Honestly, have their ever been four nominees who have so utterly dominated their respective sports in one year? For Mahomes to earn this award was quite a feat for sure.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback was already an ESPY winner before the awards show even aired. He was announced as the winner of the Best NFL Player ESPY on the July 10 edition of ESPN’s NFL Live.
Mahomes has taken the mantle of Tom Brady and is now the most dominant presence in the NFL. With two consecutive and three overall Super Bowl championships as well as three Super Bowl MVP Awards, he has lifted himself into that rarefied air of fame.
The ESPYs have also grown technologically. This year’s show not only aired on ABC, but was live streamed on DIRECTV stream, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, and Sling. The widespread popularity of the program stems from its unique award categories such as Best Breakthrough Athlete which featured winner JuJu Watkins and nominees Victor Wembanyama, C.J. Stroud and others.
I also liked the Best Record Breaking Performance category with Christian McCaffrey, Tara VanDerveer, Max Verstappen, and the winner Caitlin Clark, who became the NCAA’s all-time scoring leader breaking Pete Maravich’s record.
The ESPYs Best Championship Performance Award went to Jaylen Brown of the Celtics, but the nominee list went beyond the four major sports with Kayla Martello of Boston College women’s lacrosse and Midge Purse the NWSL Championship MVP award winner.
Best Athlete with a Disability and awards for race car driving, UFC fighting, boxing, tennis, and soccer hit home the show’s consistent theme of variety. Speaking of categories and winners, here are a few of my own from the 2024 ESPYs:
Best Speech: Steve Gleason after winning the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage
Best Moment: The Presentation of the Pat Tillman Award for Service mainly because it keeps Tillman’s name alive and eternal
Best Joke: Serena Williams saying to Caitlin Clark, “Caitlin, you are Larry Bird in that you are an amazing player, you have ties to Indiana, and white people are really crazy about you.”
Best Presenters: Jayden Daniels, Livvy Dunne, and Lil Wayne – the ultimate ESPY trio with stardom in sports, social media, and entertainment represented.
With flash and panache, the 2024 ESPY Awards show was a thoroughly entertaining showcase of stardom and success. It was interesting, exciting, and at times, quite moving – truly a home run for hope, a touchdown for triumph, and an ace for accomplishment.
John Molori is a weekly columnist for Barrett Sports Media. He has previously contributed to ESPNW, Patriots Football Weekly, Golf Content Network, Methuen Life Magazine, and wrote a syndicated Media Blitz column in the New England region, which was published by numerous outlets including The Boston Metro, Providence Journal, Lowell Sun, and the Eagle-Tribune. His career also includes fourteen years in television as a News and Sports Reporter, Host, Producer working for Continental Cablevision, MediaOne, and AT&T. He can be reached on Twitter @MoloriMedia.
