33rd Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner

Benefiting The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis

The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, the fundraising arm of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, honored an unparalleled group of Hall of Famers, Gold Medalists, World Champions and philanthropists in front of a crowd of over 1,500 supporters tonight at the New York Hilton Midtown. Of great note, millions were raised at the Fund’s 33rd Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner for groundbreaking spinal cord injury research.

The Great Sports Legends Dinner honored Alex Rodriguez, World Series Champion with the New York Yankees and one of the greatest professional baseball players of all-time; Ray Allen, basketball legend and two-time NBA Champion and member of the Naismith Hall of Fame; Bob Griese, member of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins and two-time Super Bowl Champion; Mike Smith, Hall of Fame jockey who recently rode Justify to the Triple Crown; Brian Boitano, Gold Medal figure skater; and Amy Purdy, the most decorated U.S. Paralympic Snowboarder and actress, author and motivational speaker.

In addition to the Sports Legends, two special awards were given: Ignacio “Nacho” Figueras, a prodigious philanthropist, top male model and one of the greatest polo players of all time, received The Buoniconti Fund’s 2018 Philanthropist Award. Chris Evert, a noted humanitarian and tennis Hall of Famer who won 18 Grand Slam Singles Championships and three Grand Slam Doubles Championships, was conferred The Buoniconti Fund’s 2018 Humanitarian Award.

The evening, presented by the Tudor Group, was hosted by NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti and his son Marc, chaired by Mark Dalton, and emceed by NBC Sports personality Bob Costas. The Grammy Award-winning disco and funk group KC and the Sunshine Band performed live to a raucous crowd of supporters.