Oklahoma Thunder player Kevin Durant arrives at the ESPY Awards at the Nokia Theatre on Wednesday, July 16, 2014, in Los Angeles. AP
LOS ANGELES — NBA forward Kevin Durant won two ESPY Awards, including male athlete of the year, and mixed martial arts star Ronda Rousey earned female athlete honors, becoming the first UFC fighter to claim a trophy in the biggest category at the show honoring the year’s best performances Wednesday.
Durant also won best NBA player, ending LeBron James’ two-year reign in both categories.
“Everybody helped me out along the way,” Durant said. “My beautiful mom watching at home who couldn’t be here. My favorite teammate, Russell Westbrook.”
Durant beat out fellow male athlete nominees Miguel Cabrera of baseball team the Detroit Tigers, Peyton Manning of the NFL’s Denver Broncos and boxer Floyd Mayweather during the show hosted by rapper Drake at the Nokia Theatre.
Rousey, the first female UFC champion, won over WNBA star Maya Moore, Olympic champion skier Mikaela Shiffrin and college basketball player Brenna Stewart.
The winners in most categories were determined by fan voting.
Rousey didn’t attend, with presenter Chrissy Teigen saying the fighter had surgery a day earlier.
Ronda Rousey. AP FILE PHOTO
Manning didn’t go home empty-handed. He collected two trophies: best NFL player and record-breaking performance. Manning won his fifth Most Valuable Player award last season, when he set single-season records by passing for 55 touchdowns and more than 5,500 yards.
The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks won best team. Their All-Pro cornerback, Richard Sherman, won breakthrough athlete.
The best game was the Iron Bowl college matchup between No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Auburn, with the Tigers winning 34-28 on the final play to spoil the Tide’s BCS hopes.
Led by keeper Tim Howard, the U.S. men’s football team won best moment for its run to the round of 16 in the World Cup.
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal won best international athlete.
Gregg Popovich won best coach-manager for guiding the San Antonio Spurs to the NBA championship. Spurs player Kawhi Leonard earned the championship performance award to go with his MVP award from the NBA Finals.
Westbrook won best comeback athlete, having overcome his latest knee surgery to help the Thunder reach the Western Conference finals.
Stewart won best female college athlete, while Creighton basketball star Doug McDermott won male college athlete.
Olympic snowboarders Jamie Anderson and Sage Kotsenburg won best female and male Olympian. Kotsenburg won the first gold medal of the Sochi Games in men’s snowboard slopestyle.
The Arthur Ashe Courage award went to St. Louis Rams draftee Michael Sam, who announced earlier this year that he is gay. The former Missouri defensive end will be trying to make the Rams’ roster when training camp opens. If he does, Sam would be the NFL’s first openly gay player.
Sam teared up throughout his speech and his voice faltered at times.
“Great things can happen when you have the courage to be yourself,” he told the audience.
Hall of Famer Jim Brown hugged Sam on his way to the stage.
The Ashe award is named for the late tennis player who died in 1993 after contracting AIDS from a blood transfusion.
The Jimmy V Award for Perseverance was given to ESPN “SportsCenter” anchor Stuart Scott, who is fighting a recurrence of cancer first diagnosed seven years ago.
The Pat Tillman Award for Service was given for the first time to Josh Sweeney, a retired Marine who lost both his legs after an explosion in Afghanistan. He scored the lone goal for the U.S. sled hockey team that beat the Russians for gold earlier this year at the Paralympics in Sochi.
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