People think I have courage. The courage in my family are my wife Pam, my three daughters, here, Nicole, Jamie, LeeAnn, my mom, who’s right here too.

Jim Valvano said this during his widely remembered acceptance speech for the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the inaugural ESPY Awards in 1993, after he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. In the speech he repeatedly redirected praise away from himself, emphasizing gratitude, humor, and the support of loved ones. Here he names his wife Pam, their three daughters (Nicole, Jamie, and LeeAnn), and his mother, underscoring that the daily endurance of family members—watching, caregiving, and continuing life under strain—often requires a quieter, sustained bravery. The moment helped define Valvano’s public legacy and his later association with cancer advocacy.

Valvano challenges the public tendency to equate courage with the person visibly facing illness or adversity. By insisting that the “courage” belongs to his wife, daughters, and mother, he reframes bravery as an act of steadfast love: showing up, absorbing fear, and sustaining hope when outcomes are uncertain. The line also functions rhetorically as humility—refusing heroic status—while widening the moral focus from individual achievement to communal resilience. In the context of a televised awards ceremony, it becomes a corrective to celebrity narratives, reminding listeners that suffering and endurance are shared experiences and that caregivers’ emotional labor is often overlooked.