On July 15th, ESPN broadcasted the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award (ESPY) ceremony recognizing individual and team athletic achievements during the year of 2015. It was a night of champions: some of the outstanding award winners were the Women’s World Cup champions, an NBA champion, and a 21-time Grand Slam champion.
Stephen Curry
Stephen Curry, one of the most valuable and efficient scorers in the NBA, was awarded the Best NBA Player award. His season stats reflect his greatness over last year’s season. Curry shot 48 percent FG from the field with 23 points per game, in addition to an impressive 43 percent three-point field goal percentage. On November 8th, he scored 34 points against the Houston Rockets, shooting 68 percent from the field and 67 percent from the three-point line. Three weeks later, he dropped 40 points on the Miami Heat, shooting a 63 percent field goal percentage and a dominating 72 percent 3-point field goal percentage. The following day, Curry shot only 28 points but had a better shooting efficiency the night before. He shot 69 percent from the field and 75 percent from behind the three-point line. December was a strong month from the NBA champion, as he scored 34 points and shot above 50 percent on two different occasions within the same week. Chef Curry cooked up 51 points against the Dallas Mavericks in February, shooting above 60 percent from the field and from behind the three-point line. He has been destroying the competition all year. He repeated an above-60 percent shooting performance in April against the Portland Trailblazers as he scored an unbelievable 45 points. While he steals the game from his opponents on the court, his daughter, Riley, steals the show during the post-game press conferences.
While many of the Curry family moments have been captured on film, the developers at 2K seek to capture all of his notable on-court mannerisms and techniques in the exclusive "NBA 2K16" video game, where he will be featured.
Serena Williams
There is no question that Serena Williams is one of greatest tennis players of all time. She was awarded the Best Female Tennis Player at the ESPYs. Her 2015 record was 40-1 as she earned $9.17 million from tennis competitions. Williams defeated Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open finals: 6-3, 7-6, 7-5. Serena only lost two sets in the entire Australian Open competition. In the French Open, Williams defeated Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-7, 6-2. And finally at the Wimbledon, Serena championed Garbine Murguza in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. Serena Williams won her 21st grand slam this year. Check out her first 20.
U.S. Women's National Team
The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team earned the Best Team ESPY after their successful season as World Cup Champions. Leading up to the FIFA World Cup, our ladies dominated the qualifying games by defeating Australia 3-1, Nigeria 1-0, and Colombia 2-0 in the round of sixteen. In the quarterfinals of the World Cup, the U.S. women’s team conquered China 1-0. In the following semifinals round, the U.S. defeated their female counterparts of the Men’s FIFA World Cup champions 2-0. The trailblazing U.S. women’s team dominated Japan 5-2 to become World Cup champions, earning them $2 million in prize money.
The ESPYS recapped and honored a year of amazing sports performances by our favorite players. I look forward to another year of grit, courage, and tenacity across all sports platforms.
