The 40th Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner
More than 900 distinguished supporters from the worlds of sports, entertainment, business, philanthropy, medicine, and community leadership celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the event benefitting The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis in New York City.
More than 900 distinguished supporters from the worlds of sports, entertainment, business, philanthropy, medicine, and community leadership celebrated the 40th Anniversary of both the Great Sports Legends Dinner and the founding of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis in New York City.
The dinner benefited The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, the fundraising arm of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, a designated Center of Excellence at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine. Several million dollars were raised to support this leading global research center conducting cutting-edge discovery, translational and clinical investigations in traumatic spinal cord and brain injury, peripheral nerve injury, and neurological diseases and disorders, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, Multiple Sclerosis, and stroke.
The 2025 Great Sports Legends
Albert Pujols, two-time World Series Champion
Dominique Wilkins, NBA Hall of Famer and NBA 75th Anniversary Team member
Warren Moon, NFL Hall of Famer, Canadian Football Hall of Famer
Dwight Howard, NBA Champion, 2025 Basketball Hall of Famer
Thurman Thomas, NFL Hall of Fame running back
Kurt Busch, 2026 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee
Jeremy Roenick, NHL Hall of Famer, nine-time NHL All-Star
Apolo Ohno, Eight-time Olympic speedskating medalist and Olympic Hall of Famer
Michelle Wie West, 2014 U.S. Women’s Open Golf Champion
Frankie Dettori, QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame member
Dr. Barth Green, co-founder and chairman of The Miami Project, received the 2025 Buoniconti Fund Award, and legendary investor and business icon Mario Gabelli received The Buoniconti Fund’s 2025 Outstanding Philanthropist Award.
Foreigner, 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees performed. Nine-time Grammy Award winner and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Gloria Estefan, and Bob Costas, 28-time Emmy winning broadcaster served as event emcees.
Title Sponsors
DiMare Family, including Swanee, Tony and Scott DiMare, and the Paul J. DiMare Foundation, who announced a donation of $3.1 million to The Buoniconti Fund, in honor of family patriarch Paul, to launch an innovative clinical trial for ALS.
Presenting Sponsors
Tudor Group
Mack Family
Notable Donors
Buoniconti Fund Board Member Christine E. Lynn, donated $500,000 in honor of Marc Buoniconti.
Gloria and Emilio Estefan donated $40,000 in honor of the 40th Anniversary of The Miami Project, the Great Sports Legends Dinner and her hit song Conga.
Event Chairs
Event chairman: Mark Dalton was event chairman
Co-chairs: Reed Mack and Richard Gray
