This was a different version of The ESPYS. No red carpet, no nattily dressed athletes, no house band or monologue poking fun at the past year's top athletes and moments.
The focus was on honours, the pandemic and racial justice. Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage for sparking a national conversation about mental health.
Nelson Cruz of the Minnesota Twins was honoured as the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian of the Year for helping his hometown in the Dominican Republic acquire public service needs.
NFL quarterback Russell Wilson, along with soccer star Megan Rapinoe and WNBA star Sue Bird, hosted the pre-produced show remotely from their respective homes in Seattle.
Each wore Black Lives Matter T-shirts to open the show, and touched on the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, all of whom were killed by police.
Rapinoe and Bird urged their fellow white athletes to just listen.
This is the time we've got to have their backs Rapinoe said of Black athletes.
Later in the show, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Olympic gold-medal skier Lindsey Vonn were among those calling on white athletes to listen, learn and act.