LeBron, Osaka, Mahomes and 2 others among the athletes of the year SI ’20

aware December 07, 2020 at 09:35 pm

by
AFP

New York: NBA champion LeBron James, Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes and Japan’s Naomi Osaka were among the five athletes honored Sunday by Sports Illustrated magazine for their off-field activism.

SI’s annual Sportsman of the Year was The Activist Athlete and paid tribute to the off-field activities of James, Osaka, Mahomes and their NFL teammate Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and NBA women’s champion Breanna Stewart. The magazine cited “five men and women who in 2020 were champions in every sense of the word: champions on the field, champions for others.” James led the Los Angeles Lakers to the NBA title, capturing the fourth of his career, and became the first three-time winner of the SI athlete award after 2012 and 2016, having previously equaled the two athlete awards given to the golfer Tiger Woods in 1996 and 2000. “With his efforts for racial justice, educational reform and the empowerment of the black community, as well as his campaign for the right to vote and his varied charitable work, there is no doubt that he establishes the standard for the modern socially conscious athlete, ”said SI de James, who was also awarded the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for his professional dedication to public service. James spoke out on police brutality, racial inequality, and championed a voter registration program, More Than One Vote, that helped register more than 10,000 poll workers and register voters in the fight against voter suppression. Osaka won her third Grand Slam tennis title at this year’s US Open. He took part in the Black Lives Matter protests this year following George Floyd’s death and wore black masks during his US Open career, each bearing the name of an African-American killed by police.

Super Bowl MVP Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs to the Super Bowl crown, pushed the NFL to recognize the Black Lives Matter movement, and endorsed the right of NFL players to social protest. Duvernay-Tardif, the Chiefs’ titular right-hander but also a medic, gave up his NFL uniform for the medic’s personal protective equipment when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, joining the front lines of a battle for the life of the people. Stewart supported Black Lives Matter from the start of the women’s NBA bubble to the very end when she helped the Seattle Storm claim a fourth title and win WNBA Finals MVP honors after recovering from injury at the Achilles tendon. “If there is glow in this dark year, it is the leadership, and much-needed optimism, displayed by some of our nation’s best athletes as we meet our many challenges,” SI wrote in announcing the winners. “The problems and challenges of 2020 will undoubtedly continue to exist in 2021 and beyond. But our Athletes of the Year set an example of how to deal with them and one day fix them. With principle. With passion. And with the optimism of an athlete – the belief that no matter the obstacles, better days are ahead. ”