Talk about a major honor!
On Monday night, LeBron James was honored with his second Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year award after an INCREDIBLE year of accomplishments and generosity!
Related: Kobe Bryant & Wife Vanessa Have Welcomed Their Third Child!
Not only did James win the NBA championship with his Cleveland Cavaliers, but the athlete also donated $2.5 million to the Muhammad Ali exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. On top of that, the ball player also announced he’ll be an executive producer on an HBO documentary about Ali, and has spoken out about gun violence on multiple occasions.
Though we LOVED last year’s pick of Serena Williams, the Cavs star’s selection is pretty special too because it’s the second time he’s been honored with the award. Tiger Woods is the only other person to ever have won the award twice!
Rapper Jay Z presented the All Star athlete with the award as LeBron began his speech saying:
“It’s never about the individual. It’s about the people behind him. This award is for my wife. This award is for my mother. This award is for my three kids back home. This award is for the great Muhammad Ali, for Bill Russell, for Jim Brown, for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ├óΓé¼┬ª So as I stand up here, as the recipient of the 2016 Sportsperson of the Year, this isn’t about me, this is much bigger than me and I just want to say thank you to everyone.”
Bron Bron went on to talk about how his predecessors set the stage and paved the way for today’s kids of various ethnicities and different backgrounds to find success.
The 31-year-old wasn’t the only star honored though as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jim Brown, and Bill Russell all received the SI Muhammad Ali Legacy award and Francisco Lindor was given the Rising Star award!
Michael Phelps was also honored at the event by being named the greatest Olympian of all time by his fellow Olympic athletes!
Ch-ch-check out LBJ’s acceptance speech (below) and let us now what you think of James winning this year’s honor!
[Image via Ivan Nikolov/WENN.]
Related Posts
