2023 ESPY Awards Recap
Last night, the annual ESPY Awards took place at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center, New York City, celebrating outstanding athletes, teams, and sports achievements from the past year.
First-time host Marcello Hernandez kicked off the evening with a humorous monologue that intertwined sports with commentary on immigration, culture, and race in America.
Hernandez, who has Dominican and Cuban roots, made a lighthearted jab at last year’s host Shane Gillis, quipping that while the Hispanic man was busy working, Gillis was at home “drinking beer on the couch like a real American.”
He commended immigrant athletes, noting, “Immigrant athletes are what make sports great, because, really, a sport without immigrants is just cornhole.” He also poked fun at the misconception that American champions are “world champions,” humorously stating that the FIFA World Cup reminds fans of the true meaning of “world”—though they often think it’s just about “one team, America and Toronto.”
Hernandez took a shot at hockey, calling it a “white man’s sport” and humorously remarked, “When Latinos see a player put in the penalty box, they’re like, ‘He’ll do it again. He didn’t learn anything from that.’”
He celebrated the WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement and made a jest about the league’s LGBTQ+ players, suggesting that there’s a reality show on the horizon called “Basketball Husbands…and Wives,” adding, “but mostly wives.”
Even NBA star Jalen Brunson was not spared from Hernandez’s playful pokes. Referring to Brunson winning a championship aided by his father, who was an assistant coach, Hernandez quipped, “It just goes to show that, like most things, nepotism is a lot cooler when it’s done by a black person.”
Although Hernandez’s routine brought laughter and entertainment to the night, the focus eventually shifted back to honoring the athletes and teams that have made significant impacts over the year.
In a notable highlight, the New York Knicks were named Team of the Year, Shohei Otani received the award for Best Single Game Performance, and Jalen Brunson took home the Male Athlete of the Year Award.
