Sports Illustrated's 'Sportsperson of the Year' is awarded to five athletes, including LeBron James, Patrick Mahomes and Naomi Osaka, for their 'social justice' activism
Rather than a single recipient, Sports Illustrated awarded its 2020 Sportsperson of the Year honor to five individuals who exemplify the modern 'Activist Athlete': Lakers star LeBron James, tennis champion Naomi Osaka, WNBA Finals MVP Breanna Stewart, and Kansas City Chiefs teammates Patrick Mahomes and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.
Like past winners, all five had success in their respective sports in 2020.
James got his fourth title, Osaka won her second US Open, and Stewart's Seattle Storm captured another WNBA crown, while Mahomes and Duvernay-Tardif helped Kansas City win its first Super Bowl in half a century.
This year, though, the 66-year-old publication isn't just celebrating team, or individual accomplishments, but rather the athletes' efforts to help their communities.
Breanna Stewart , the WNBA Finals MVP, and Naomi Osaka , the US Open champion, were honored for keeping the names of black victims of police violence in the news
Each recipient's impact was described in an essay by another athlete, such as former Sportsperson of the Year winner Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who credited LeBron James for his work fighting voter suppression
Chiefs teammates Patrick Mahomes and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif were honored for their work fighting voter suppression and COVID-19 (Duvernay-Tardif)
'And so our Sportsperson of the Year award goes to five men and women who in 2020 were champions in every sense of the word,' the SI editors wrote, 'champions on the field, champions for others off it.'
Each recipient's impact was described in an essay by another athlete, such as former Sportsperson of the Year winner Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who credited James for his work fighting voter suppression.
The former Lakers center had other options to choose from.
James was one of the NBA's most vocal players in the weeks and months that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. He also continued his work with the 'I Promise' school he helped build in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.
But to Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, nothing was as tangible as James work with More Than a Vote — an organization he funded to fight voter suppression.
James was one of the NBA's most vocal players in the weeks and months that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. He also continued his work with the 'I Promise' school he helped build in his hometown of Akron, Ohio
'He did what will resonate more deeply than anything else in his legacy: He got out the vote,' Abdul-Jabbar wrote.
'In 2020 we saw the largest, most egregious campaign of voter suppression since the Civil War,' Abdul-Jabbar continued, apparently referencing what many believed to be a coordinated effort to disenfranchise low-income and African-American voters.
James, like many athletes, spent 2020 reminding fans about the death of Breonna Taylor at the hands of Louisville police
'In response, LeBron waged his own war—against political lethargy and social disenfranchisement. The organization More Than a Vote, supported by LeBron, Offset, Odell Beckman Jr. and other Black athletes and artists, aggressively set out to inspire young people, particularly young Black people, to vote.
'It worked: More voters turned out than in any election in the nation's history. With open racism spreading through the U.S. like kudzu, LeBron's efforts gave African Americans their voice, which so many have tried to silence.'
Similarly, Mahomes helped the NFL embrace the Black Lives Matter movement after previously quarreling with players over the right to protest during the national anthem.
After joining with other players on a messaging campaign in response to Floyd's death, Mahomes and his foundation then helped pay for new voting machines in Kansas City.
'He understands the issue of voter suppression in America,' wrote former Washington Redskins quarterback Doug Williams, the first black quarterback to start in the Super Bowl. 'He wanted to make sure that people had an opportunity for a fair election—that whoever you support, you just get the chance to vote.'
Osaka, 23, was the tennis world's most vocal star on the subject of social justice, but it may have been a fashion statement that caused the biggest stir. En route to her second US Open title in the last three years, the daughter of a Japanese mother and Haitian father began wearing a facial covering emblazoned with the names of victims of police violence
Osaka, 23, was the tennis world's most vocal star on the subject of social justice, but it may have been a fashion statement that caused the biggest stir.
En route to her second US Open title in the last three years, the daughter of a Japanese mother and Haitian father began wearing a facial covering emblazoned with the names of victims of police violence.
The more she won, the more audiences were reminded of the likes of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by Louisville police during a botched raid at her apartment in March.
'By wearing seven masks at the U.S. Open— with a new one for every round, each honoring a different Black victim of police violence or a racist attack—Naomi made an extremely powerful statement,' wrote tennis legend Martina Navratilova. 'Every time she walked out to play people were talking about which name was going to be on the mask. Breonna Taylor. Elijah McClain. Ahmaud Arbery. Trayvon Martin. George Floyd. Philando Castile. Tamir Rice.'
Breanna Stewart, 26, rebounded from a season-ending injury in 2019 to win her second WNBA title with the Storm. Like Osaka, Stewart and her fellow WNBA players continued to emphasize the Black Lives Matter movement, while honoring the victims of police violence. She even tweeted her hope that the WNBA would have 'BLM' on its court inside the league bubble in 2020 — a move that was ultimately adopted by both her league and the NBA
Stewart, 26, rebounded from a season-ending injury in 2019 to win her second WNBA title with the Storm.
Like Osaka, Stewart and her fellow WNBA players continued to emphasize the Black Lives Matter movement, while honoring the victims of police violence. She even tweeted her hope that the WNBA would have 'BLM' on its court inside the league bubble in 2020 — a move that was ultimately adopted by both her league and the NBA.
The essay on Stewart was written by last year's Sportsperson of the Year, US soccer star Megan Rapinoe - the fiancé of Stewart's teammate Sue Bird
'When Stewie posted on Twitter about wanting the WNBA to paint Black Lives Matter on the baselines this season, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy,' wrote last year's Sportsperson of the Year, US soccer star Megan Rapinoe, who happens to be the fiancé of Stewart's teammate Sue Bird.
'A lot of players wanted to dedicate the season to Breonna Taylor and BLM, but there's more weight to it when your best player—the No. 1 pick out of UConn in 2016, the MVP two years later and certainly the future of the league—is pushing for it. For her not only to understand that but also be willing to take that on made a huge difference.
'She realizes she has an opportunity to be more than what she is on the court—and also, as a white player in a predominantly Black league, to be an ally, or accomplice. Not a lot of white athletes have done that in the past: said their cause is my cause, and I'm as willing to fight for it as they are.'
Duvernay-Tardif's off-field efforts weren't strictly symbolic.
After winning a title with the Chiefs in February, the 6-foot-5, 321-pound offensive lineman opted out of the 2020 season so he could serve as an orderly at a long-term care facility in his native Quebec, where he graduated medical school two years earlier.
Patrick Mahomes not only encouraged fans to vote, but he also paid for new voting machines
LeBron James and Patrick Mahomes both supported the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020
Duvernay-Tardif is now on the front lines of the battle against coronavirus by working as an orderly at a long-term care facility in his native Quebec, where he earned his medical degree
'To choose to go back to the front lines, because he's a doctor, and he wants to help people, even if that's performing tasks like changing diapers and dispensing medications at a long-term care facility just outside of Montreal, it shows how much he cares,' wrote Dr. Jenny Thompson, a decorated Olympic swimmer who is now an anesthesiologist.
'It shows that he's not only a caring doctor but above all a good person and the perfect choice for Sportsperson of the Year in turbulent 2020.'
Duvernay-Tardif has also become a leading voice among athletes, encouraging fans to take coronavirus seriously and help protect themselves and others.
'Most who go into medicine do so because they love science, sure, but also because they love people and humanity, because they want to make a difference in the world,' Thompson continued.
'Clearly, that is coming through for him right now, as he forgoes the glory inherent in defending a Super Bowl title to help his fellow humans, to wade back onto the front lines and fight COVID-19 at that long-term care facility in Quebec, while also studying public health at Harvard. His choice was difficult but admirable, in the most staggering way, and he should be celebrated not for his accomplishments on the field but for the choice he made in 2020 to leave the gridiron for something more important. Well done, doctor.'
SI will honor its Sportsperson of the Year award recipients during an online award ceremony on December 19.
Other awards, such as Breakout of the Year and Team of the Year will also be presented.
Mahomes and Duvernay-Tardif react after a touchdown in the AFC title game