December 22, 1998
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Michael Jordan and Marion Jones, two of the greatest stars in University of North Carolina sports history, have been nominated for ESPY Awards as the 1998 Male and Female Athlete of the Year.
The nominees are chosen by a panel of sports executives, journalists and retired athletes for ESPN. Winners will be decided by the ESPY Finalist Committee made up of top athletes and ESPN/ABC personnel. The cable network will announce the winners on a special presentation show, Feb. 15 at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Jordan, who led the Chicago Bulls to a sixth NBA championship last season, has won six ESPY awards in the past for his various accomplishments. Other candidates for Male Athlete of the Year are baseball home run kings Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon.
Jones, a guard on Carolinacs 1994 NCAA basketball championship team and a track star, was nominated for her record-shattering year as a sprinter and long jumper in 1998. At last summercs national championships she became the first woman in 50 years to win three individual eventsOthe 100, 200 and long jump.
She ran the 100 meters faster than any woman in history, except for record-holder Florence Griffith Joyner, and had the best long jump of anyone in the world in 1998.
Other candidates for Female Athlete of the Year are Tennessee basketball star Chamique Holdsclaw, Olympic skater Tara Lipinski and golfer Annika Sorenstam.
Antawn Jamison, the consensus national player of the year at Carolina last season, is one of three candidates for the ESPY in mencs college basketball. Other contenders are Mike Bibby of Arizona and Raef LaFrentz of Kansas.
Carolinacs Tracy Reid, the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and a consensus All-America, is one of three candidates for the outstanding performer in womencs basketball. Others are Holdsclaw and Connecticutcs Nykesha Sales.
Donna Andrews, a former Tar Heel golfer, was selected with Sorenstam and Se Ri Pak as the top three performers in womencs golf.
Jordan, Karl Malone and Shaquille OcNeal were named pro basketballcs best players. Contenders for the ESPY in womencs track and field are Jones, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Svetlana Masterkova.
The outstanding performance of the year under pressure includes Jordancs last-second winning shot against Utah in the NBA Finals. Chosen as the other two top performances were Lipinskics Olympic Gold Medal in figure skating and Mark OcMearacs birdie which won the Masters Golf Tournament.
A portion of the proceeds from the ESPYs is given to the V Foundation, established by the late Jim Valvano and ESPN, to raise funds for cancer research.
