Jim Valvano’s speech toward the end of the ESPY Ceremony was memorable due to his raw authenticity and his ongoing battle with cancer. Valvano used his time on stage to talk about his fight with the disease and how he felt about it, telling the audience to appreciate the time they have and to live life to the fullest. He shared his outlook on life—”where you started from, where you are, and where you are going to be”—before closing by announcing the Jimmy V Cancer Foundation and asking the audience, both in person and at home, for their support so that future generations would not be wretched with this disease. He offered a beautiful closing statement: “Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind. It cannot touch my heart. And it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.” Jim Valvano demonstrates all three modes of persuasion—ethos, pathos, and logos—in his speech raising awareness for cancer.

Valvano establishes ethos because, at this time, the majority of the audience was well aware of his condition. If not, he states it himself: “Now when I’m fighting cancer, everybody knows that.” This demonstrates that he is personally affected by the disease and is an advocate for raising awareness so that others may not share his experience.

Pathos is illustrated multiple times throughout the speech. As stated earlier, Valvano’s condition could be sympathized with heavily, and so his message about living life to the fullest and his perspective on life carried more weight since his time was limited. Another example is when he first states what is important to him—”where you started, where you are, and where you are going to be”—and recalls his first speech as a coach at Rutgers University. Valvano uses comedic appeal and vivid imagery to tell the story, engaging the audience throughout. His closing statement about how cancer cannot take away from him physically, mentally, or spiritually is also an appeal to emotion, as the audience can recognize his intense enthusiasm to push forward, cancer or not. This serves as a buffer to his overall message.

Valvano also employs logos in raising awareness. Although he doesn’t cite a credible source, he gives an estimate of what is being raised for AIDS research compared to how little is being raised for cancer. He also states that “300,000” people will die of the disease next year. This huge number captures people’s attention and motivates them to donate or support the cause—because we have a cancer patient telling us it is true.

I did not have a speech in mind for this assignment because I never bothered to listen to or place value on any speeches. This one was referred to me by my uncle when I asked him for suggestions. Conveniently enough, in my own life I have been reflecting on where I came from, where I am, and where I wish to be—just like Valvano’s perspective. I carry a lot of value in who I have become, mainly because after graduating high school I felt lost and had no direction. Sometimes I had no appreciation for the things around me. It was not until my mother told me straight: “It does not matter what you do, as long as you do something.” So I continued with the automotive program I started in high school, and luckily I got hired at a dealership. This may not be what I want to do as a career, but I am very grateful for the step forward I have made in my life and wish to keep marching. Every morning on my drive to work, I am able to see the sunrise over the I-10 freeway and reflect on how far I’ve come. Hearing Valvano’s speech, I found huge agreement with his message, and so I wished to use it for this assignment.

Jim Valvano, nicknamed "Jimmy V," was born on March 10, 1946, in New York City. He was a college basketball player at Rutgers University from 1964 to 1967, where he played point guard and helped lead the team to a third-place finish in the 1967 National Invitation Tournament. After graduating with a degree in English, he began his coaching career at Rutgers before moving on to head coaching positions at Johns Hopkins, Bucknell, and Iona. In 1980, he became the head coach at North Carolina State University, where he achieved his greatest success. In 1983, Valvano led the Wolfpack on an improbable run through the NCAA Tournament, culminating in a stunning upset victory over the heavily favored Houston Cougars in the championship game. His joyful reaction of running around the court looking for someone to hug became one of the most iconic moments in college basketball history. After leaving NC State in 1990, Valvano became a popular sportscaster for ABC and ESPN. In 1992, he was diagnosed with cancer. At the first ESPY Awards on March 4, 1993, Valvano delivered a powerful speech while accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award, urging the audience to "laugh, think, and cry" every day and announcing the creation of The V Foundation for Cancer Research with its motto: "Don't give up. Don't ever give up." He died on April 28, 1993, at the age of 47. In 2023, Valvano was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Held at Madison Square Garden on March 4, 1993, the inaugural ESPY Awards was ESPN's new ceremony created to honor excellence in sports. That evening, Michael Jordan received recognition for Best Male Athlete and Best NBA Player, while Emmitt Smith was honored as Best NFL Player. Later in the program, Jim Valvano took the stage to accept the first-ever Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award. Visibly weakened by the cancer that would take his life less than two months later, Valvano delivered a speech that lit up the room with its raw emotional appeal, humor, and unforgettable message about perseverance.