Sports Illustrated’s 2022 Sportsperson of the Year Awards: Sights and Sounds

Author:
Zach Koons
Publish date:
Dec 9, 2022

The annual Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Awards took place on Thursday night in San Francisco to honor SI’s choices for the most impactful figures in sports in 2022.

Warriors guard Stephen Curry was named SI’s 2022 Sportsperson of the Year on the heels of his fourth championship with Golden State in the last in eight years. Within the last year, he also graduated from Davidson College, broadened his charitable reach, supplied financial support for the men’s and women’s golf teams at Howard University and started the Underrated Golf Tour.

Congrats to Stephen Curry on being Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year! Get the 2022 Sportsperson of the Year issue here.

“So many amazing men and women from all worlds of sports that changed their game, their world and changed it ways that will live on forever,” Curry said in his acceptance speech. “I couldn’t be more humbled and honored to represent all of the people that have been a part of my story.”

American sprinter Allyson Felix won SI’s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for 2022 after finishing her career at the Tokyo Olympics last summer. Off the track, Felix has become an advocate for athlete mothers, which included pushing Nike to announce a new maternity policy that includes 18 months of pay for sponsored athletes who have children.

“Throughout my career, I’ve won medals. But this award, named after one of my heroes—Muhammad Ali—stands for something so much bigger,” Felix said during her acceptance speech.

Other award winners and attendees included Commanders rookie running back Brian Robinson Jr., who won SI’s Inspiration of the Year, and Oklahoma softball star Jocelyn Alo, who won SI’s Athlete of the Year.

Here are more of the sights and sounds from the 2022 Sportsperson of the Year Awards.

Stephen Curry, SI’s 2022 Sportsperson of the Year