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ESPY 2021 Winners: Highlights from Saturday's Awards Show and Results
July 11, 2021
The 2021 ESPY awards were handed out Saturday night, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking the top prize for Best Team coming off their Super Bowl-winning season.
It was a good night overall for the Bucs, who also had quarterback Tom Brady win the award for Best Athlete in Men's Sports. Naomi Osaka was voted Best Athlete in Women's Sports for winning the 2020 U.S. Open and 2021 Australian Open.
U.S. gymnastics superstar Simone Biles took home the ESPY for Best Championship Performance.
Before the teams and athletes received their prizes for their accomplishments over the past 12 months, host Anthony Mackie used his monologue to roast Trae Young like New York Knicks fans did at Madison Square Garden during the playoffs.
Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons also wasn't safe from being roasted following his postseason blunders:
Mackie didn't go totally negative in his opening monologue. The newly minted Captain America gave a shoutout to 2021 Spelling Bee champion Zaila Avant-garde.
As for the awards that were given out, several were announced either before the ceremony began or not on the telecast. Several NBA players received love in the fan voting, including Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and LaMelo Ball.
The Golden State Warriors superstar was voted best NBA Player. He won the award after leading the league in scoring (32.0 points per game) and three-point field goals made (337) during the 2020-21 regular season.
Westbrook won for Best Record-Breaking Performance thanks to surpassing Oscar Robertson's 47-year-old record for career triple-doubles. The nine-time All-Star recorded his 182nd triple-double on May 10 against the Atlanta Hawks.
Fresh off being named 2020-21 NBA Rookie of the Year, Ball was voted the Best Breakthrough Athlete after his star-making debut with the Charlotte Hornets.
Breanna Stewart won for Best WNBA Player for helping the Seattle Storm win their second title in three years. She was also named MVP of the WNBA Finals after averaging 28.3 points per game in the Storm's sweep over the Las Vegas Aces.
In the specialty awards categories, Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford was rewarded with the Pat Tillman Award for Service for taking on the UK Parliament after it voted against providing free school meals to children from low-income families.
ESPYS @ESPYSManchester United and England star <a href="https://twitter.com/MarcusRashford?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarcusRashford</a> is the recipient of this year's Pat Tillman Award for Service.<br><br>Rashford, who has spoken about his reliance on free school meals as a child, helped raise millions of dollars to help feed children in England. <a href="https://t.co/8ECo2LFtOO">pic.twitter.com/8ECo2LFtOO</a>
After becoming the first athlete with Down syndrome to complete the Ironman triathlon, Chris Nikic was named the winner of the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance.
Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif was named the recipient of the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award. He was the first NFL player to opt out of playing last season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duvernay-Tardif used his time away from the football field to work at a long-term care facility in Montreal to help care for elderly patients.
Maya Moore, who has sat out the past three WNBA seasons to focus her efforts on fighting for social justice causes, was given the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. The four-time WNBA champion has worked since 2019 to aid in criminal justice reform.
Some of the other notable winners included Connecticut women's basketball star Paige Bueckers (Best College Athlete, Women's Sports), Stanford women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer (Best Coach), Manchester City's Sam Mewis (Best International Athlete, Women's Soccer) and Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith (Best College Athlete, Men's Sports).
The WrestleMania 37 Night 1 main event match between Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair won the award for Best WWE Moment, Kyler Murray's Hail Mary pass to DeAndre Hopkins against the Buffalo Bills was named Best Play and Gonzaga's 93-90 overtime win against UCLA in the men's Final Four was deemed the Best Game.