{"id":29400,"date":"2016-07-15T08:00:14","date_gmt":"2016-07-15T15:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/lebron-leads-call-to-end-gun-violence-at-espy-awards\/"},"modified":"2016-07-15T08:00:14","modified_gmt":"2016-07-15T15:00:14","slug":"lebron-leads-call-to-end-gun-violence-at-espy-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/lebron-leads-call-to-end-gun-violence-at-espy-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"LeBron leads call to end gun violence at ESPY Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES<\/strong> \u2014 LeBron James won five trophies, including best male athlete and best NBA player, at the ESPY Awards on Wednesday night when frivolity gave way to a James-led call to end gun violence and racial profiling.<\/p>\n

The show honoring the year\u2019s best athletes and sports moments opened on a somber note, with James and fellow NBA stars Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade standing four abreast on stage addressing the recent shootings of blacks by white police officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe urgency to create change is at an all-time high,\u201d Anthony said.<\/p>\n

Paul, the nephew of a police officer, recited the names of several men who have been killed. Wade urged a stop to racial profiling, a shoot-to-kill mentality and \u201cnot seeing the value of black and brown bodies.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnough is enough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

James echoed Wade, noting, \u201cWe all feel helpless and frustrated by the violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

James urged his fellow pros to educate themselves and renounce violence while using their resources and time to help strengthen and rebuild their communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have to do better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Golden State star Stephen Curry thanked the quartet for their message while accepting the night\u2019s first award for record-breaking performance. He hit 402 3-pointers during the regular season.<\/p>\n

James won male athlete and championship performance for the third time in his career and his fifth trophy as top NBA player. He shared the team and best moment awards with his Cavaliers teammates, who upset Golden State to deliver the first championship for Cleveland in 52 years.<\/p>\n

In accepting best moment, James brought teammates Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love on stage, where he saluted Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown for his early social activism in the hardscrabble city.<\/p>\n

Breanna Stewart won best female athlete on her third try, beating WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne and two Olympians, swimmer Katie Ledecky and gymnast Simone Biles. Stewart helped UConn win a fourth straight NCAA basketball championship before going to the WNBA.<\/p>\n

In her speech, Stewart called for equality for female athletes.<\/p>\n

\u201cFemale athletes don\u2019t receive half the fame. I know everyone in this room loves and supports women and girls in sports and wants to be a part of that change, right?\u201d she said. \u201cEquality for all takes each of us making an effort. Together let\u2019s be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

WWE star John Cena hosted the show from Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

In one of the night\u2019s most emotional moments, Zaevion Dobson, a 15-year-old high school football player from Knoxville, Tennessee, was honored posthumously with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award for giving his life to shield two young women from gunfire last year. His mother, Zenobia Dobson, and two brothers accepted the trophy from Curry, with last year\u2019s honoree Caitlyn Jenner joining the standing ovation.<\/p>\n

Dobson told the audience four months after her son\u2019s death his 12-year-old cousin was killed in a drive-by shooting on his way home from a basketball game where Zaevion was honored.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here to fight back,\u201d Dobson said. \u201cWe as a country need to take a stand to consider the effects of gun violence on the families throughout America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tears welled in the eyes of several athletes who applauded her comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to rewrite laws to make it harder for people to get guns,\u201d Dobson said. \u201cAll the athletes in this room, you have a lot of power. People look up to you, I know Zaevion did. I urge you to think tonight about why he died and what you can do tomorrow to prevent the next innocent man or woman from being lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

In video comments, President Barack Obama said, \u201cIt\u2019s up to all of us to build a country that\u2019s worthy of Zaevion\u2019s promise. That\u2019s what we owe him. That\u2019s what we owe all our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vice President Joe Biden presented TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager with the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance for his strength and determination while fighting leukemia for 1 1\/2 years. During the commercial break, Shaquille O\u2019Neal, Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller joined Sager and Biden on stage for a photo.<\/p>\n

The Pat Tillman Award for Service was presented to Paralympic swimmer Sgt. Elizabeth Marks for her strength through adversity and continued service to her country.<\/p>\n

Singer Justin Timberlake gave the Icon Award to Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning and Abby Wambach, all of whom retired from their respective sports this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2014 LeBron James won five trophies, including best male athlete and best NBA player, at the ESPY Awards on Wednesday night when frivolity gave way to a James-led call to end gun violence and racial profiling. The show honoring the year\u2019s best athletes and sports<\/a> moments opened on a somber note, with James […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-29400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29400\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29400"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=29400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}