Let’s be honest – 2020 was the absolute most unpredictable, craziest year of all of our lives. For a moment, let’s stop and look back at the year that was in sports.
Where do I even begin? 2020, sports wise, was a year of unpredictability – the world stopped, lives were changed and priorities shifted.
Somehow, all the major leagues found ways to finish their seasons. That’s a remarkable achievement in it’s own right, as they provided us with amazing moments through the darkest of times.
The sports world as a whole deserves an award for simply continuing on, but certain teams, athletes and leagues impacts were felt above all. Let’s take a look at 2020’s best.
Game of the Year: Ravens def. Browns 47-42
This game simply had it all. On a year where Monday Night Football drew the short-end of the primetime stick, they got lucky with this legendary game.
Lamar Jackson running off the field, twitter going wild with bathroom conspiracies – only for the reigning MVP to return to the field and win the game for the Baltimore Ravens.
It was a memorable duel between two division rivals, and fittingly, fans were allowed in. It would’ve been a shame for the game of the year to go on in-front of an empty stadium.
It’s a game where the highlights will be shown for years to come, much like 2018’s shootout between the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs.
There aren’t many football games that evoke that kind of emotion.
Honorable Mentions: Mavericks-Clippers (Luka GW); Lightning-Blue Jackets (5 OT); World Series Game 4
Athlete of the Year: LeBron James
It couldn’t have been anybody else.
LeBron James did more in 2020 than any other athlete alive.
He was a voice for the voiceless during the social justice movement. He won his fourth and perhaps most important championship – carrying the memory of Kobe Bryant with him throughout the entire playoffs.
What LeBron did this season is the stuff that legends do – when times are the toughest, when things are at their most bleak, they turn around and face it head on, and in the end .. they come out on top.
LeBron James came out on top of 2020. A remarkable year for The King.
Honorable Mentions: Patrick Mahomes; Mookie Betts; Jimmy Butler
Greatest Achievement: The Way the NBA Handled COVID-19 & The Social Justice Movement
The National Basketball Association proved to not just the sports world, but the entire globe that they’re the top run league with how they handled everything thrown at them this year.
They were trailblazers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic – the first league to postpone their season, and the league that came up with the greatest solution: The Disney Bubble.
The bubble was a resounding success, providing fans with great basketball and a satisfying conclusion in a safe, controlled environment. The fact that they proved you could finish a season during a pandemic through groundbreaking protocols was history making.
Then, when players voices needed to be heard more than ever before, the NBA provided them with a platform to do so.
Names on the back of jerseys, commercials helping people to register to vote, and millions of dollars in donations are just a few ways in which players helped move the social justice movement forward. Instead of silencing their athletes, the NBA embraced them more than ever – something that has had a huge impact.
The way the NBA handled everything thrown their way in 2020 was a masterclass in how to run a league, and that’s why it’s the greatest achievement of 2020.
Honorable Mentions: NHL Bubble; Dodgers Title Run; NASCAR Season
Villen 