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The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a professional basketball league in the United States. It is currently composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA), and league play started in 1997. The regular season is played from May to September, with the All Star game being played midway through the season in July and the WNBA Finals at the end of September until the beginning of October. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, plans to hold a midseason tournament, the Commissioner's Cup, starting in the 2020 season were placed on hold. Initially, regular-season Cup games were to be played through early July, followed by a final match in August. The pandemic also led to the entire 2020 season being held without fans at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
The Seattle Storm is an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerley and her husband Barry ahead of the 2000 season. The team is currently owned by Force 10 Hoops LLC, which is composed of three Seattle businesswomen: Dawn Trudeau, Lisa Brummel, and Ginny Gilder.
An ESPY Award is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN, to recognize individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance during the calendar year preceding a given annual ceremony. The first ESPYs were awarded in 1993. Because of the ceremony's rescheduling prior to the 2002 iteration thereof, awards presented in 2002 were for achievement and performances during the seventeen-plus previous months. As the similarly styled Grammy, Emmy, Academy Award, and Tony, the ESPYs are hosted by a contemporary celebrity; the style, though, is lighter, more relaxed and self-referential than many other awards shows, with comedic sketches usually included.
Suzanne Brigit Bird is an American-Israeli professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Bird was drafted by the Storm first overall in the 2002 WNBA draft and is considered to be one of the greatest players in WNBA history. As of 2021, Bird is the only WNBA player to win titles in three different decades. She held a front office position for the NBA's Denver Nuggets as their Basketball Operations Associate. She has also played for three teams in Russia.
Maya April Moore is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) who is on sabbatical. Naming her their inaugural Performer of the Year in 2017, Sports Illustrated called Moore the greatest winner in the history of women's basketball.
The Best Male Athlete ESPY Award, known alternatively as the Outstanding Male Athlete ESPY Award, is an annual award honoring the achievements of individual men from the world of sports. It has been presented annually at the ESPY Awards since 1993 to the male voted irrespective of nationality or sport contested, adjudged to be the best athlete in a given calendar year. The Best Male Athlete ESPY Award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is presented to the recipient at an annual ceremony in Los Angeles. Since 2004, the winner has been chosen by online balloting through three to five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts. Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in July and reflect performance from the June previous.
The Best WNBA Player ESPY Award is an award given at the ESPY Awards show. It has been presented annually since 1998 to the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) player who has been voted the best in the preceding year before the ceremony. Beginning in 2003, the winner has been chosen by online voting, before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts.
The ESPY Award for Best College Athlete, Women's Sports, known before 2021 as the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award, is an annual award honoring the achievements of a female individual from the world of collegiate sports. It was first presented as part of the ESPY Awards in 2002, following the subsumption of the Best Female College Basketball Player ESPY Award, which was presented annually between the 1993 and 2001 ceremonies, inclusive. The award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is awarded to the sportswoman adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year of those contesting collegiate sport in the United States through the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since the 2004 awards, the winner has been chosen by online voting through three to five nominees selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts. Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in July and reflect performance from the June previous.
The Arthur Ashe Courage Award is presented as part of the ESPY Awards. It is named for the American tennis player Arthur Ashe. Although it is a sport-oriented award, it is not limited to sports-related people or actions, as it is presented annually to individuals whose contributions "transcend sports". According to ESPN, the organization responsible for giving out the award, "recipients reflect the spirit of Arthur Ashe, possessing strength in the face of adversity, courage in the face of peril and the willingness to stand up for their beliefs no matter what the cost". The award was presented as part of the ESPY Awards ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles from 2008 to 2019. The 2020 ESPYs ceremony was held virtually due to COVID-19, with the Ashe Award being one of the few awards presented, and the 2021 ceremony is being held in New York City.
Megan Anna Rapinoe is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger and captains OL Reign of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), as well as the United States national team. Winner of the Ballon d'Or Féminin and named The Best FIFA Women's Player in 2019, Rapinoe won gold with the national team at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup and she played for the team at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup where the U.S. finished in second place. Rapinoe co-captained the national team alongside Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan from 2018 to 2020, with the team earning the Bronze medal in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She previously played for the Chicago Red Stars, Philadelphia Independence, and MagicJack in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), as well as Olympique Lyon in France's Division 1 Féminine.
The Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other non-heterosexual or non-cisgender (LGBTQ+) community is prevalent within sports across the world.
Breanna Mackenzie Stewart is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
A’ja Riyadh Wilson is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Wilson played for the South Carolina Gamecocks in college, and helped lead the Gamecocks to their first NCAA Women's Basketball Championship in 2017, and won the NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player award. In 2018, she won a record 3rd straight SEC Player of the Year award, led South Carolina to a record 4th straight SEC Tournament Championship, became the all-time leading scorer in South Carolina women's basketball history, and was a consensus first-team All-American for the 3rd consecutive season. Wilson swept all National Player of the Year awards as the best player in Women's College basketball for 2018. In the 2018 WNBA draft, she was drafted first overall by the Aces. Wilson won WNBA MVP in 2020, and she won her first Olympic Gold medal in the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The 2016 ESPY Awards were held on July 13, 2016. The show, hosted by professional wrestler John Cena, was held in the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. 31 competitive awards and eight honorary awards were presented.
The 2017 ESPY Awards were presented at the 25th annual ESPY Awards show, held on July 12, 2017 at 5 pm Pacific at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California and on television nationwide in the United States on ABC at 8 pm Eastern/7 PM Central. On May 16, 2017, it was announced by ESPN.com that Peyton Manning would host the show. 33 competitive awards were presented, along with several honorary awards.
The 2018 WNBA season was the 22nd season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Minnesota Lynx are the defending champions. The regular season began on May 18, with the Phoenix Mercury hosting the Dallas Wings. The season ended with the Seattle Storm defeating the Washington Mystics 3-0 in the WNBA Finals. This was the third championship for the Storm. Seattle's Breanna Stewart was named regular season and finals MVP.
The 2018 ESPY Awards were presented at the 26th annual ESPY Awards show, held on July 18, 2018 at 5 PM Pacific at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles and on television nationwide in the United States on ABC at 8 PM Eastern/7 PM Central. On May 22, 2018, it was announced that Danica Patrick would host the event, which made her the first woman to have hosted the show.
The 2019 WNBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on July 27, 2019. The Las Vegas Aces hosted the WNBA All-Star Game for the first time.
The 2019 ESPY Awards were presented at the 27th annual ESPY Awards show, held on July 10, 2019 at 5 PM Pacific at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles and broadcast on television nationwide in the United States on ABC at 8 PM Eastern/7 PM Central. Tracy Morgan served as the host.
The 2021 ESPY Awards were the 29th annual ceremony of the ESPY Award, held on July 10, 2021 at The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City and broadcast on ABC. Actor Anthony Mackie served as the host. The awards aired on ESPN and ESPN2 on July 11, and a two-hour version aired on ESPN July 13.
References
- ↑ Know, Kristopher (June 20, 2020). "ESPYs 2020: Full List of Award Categories, Format and Preview". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ↑ "2020 ESPYs LIVE UPDATES (6/21/20): Award winners, viral moments from ESPN's sports award show hosted by Russell Wilson, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe". nj.com. June 21, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2020.