40th Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner Honors Accomplished Athletes, Supports The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis
The organization has raised more than $130 million in support of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis’ spinal cord injury research.
More than 900 distinguished individuals, including leading figures from the worlds of sports, entertainment, business, philanthropy, medicine and community leadership convened Sept. 29 at the New York Hilton to honor Marc Buoniconti’s remarkable life and to commemorate the 40th anniversary of both the Great Sports Legends Dinner and the founding of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis.
The dinner benefitted The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, the fundraising arm of The Miami Project, a designated Center of Excellence at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine and a 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 disease, Parkinson’s diseases, ALS, multiple sclerosis and stroke. Several million dollars were raised to support the organization’s research and treatment initiatives for spinal cord injuries and other neurological conditions.
The Buoniconti Fund is named for Marc Buoniconti, son of the legendary Hall of Fame football player Nick Buoniconti. It was established by Nick after Marc was paralyzed making a tackle in a college football game 40 years ago. The Great Sports Legends Dinner is the fund’s largest and most successful fundraising initiative. This year’s dinner recognized 10 athletes for their accomplishments in sports and beyond.
This Year’s Sports Legends
The 2025 Great Sports Legends are:
- Albert Pujols, two-time World Series champion and one of only two Major League Baseball players in history with more than 3,000 hits and 700 home runs
- Dominique Wilkins, NBA Hall of Famer, nine-time NBA All-Star, seven-time All-NBA Team member, member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team
- Warren Moon, NFL Hall of Famer, Canadian Football Hall of Famer, nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback, five-time Grey Cup Champion
- Dwight Howard, NBA champion, 2025 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, eight-time All-star, eight-time All-NBA Team honoree, three-time Defensive Player of the Year
- Thurman Thomas, NFL Hall of Fame running back, five-time Pro Bowler, NFL Most Valuable Player in 1991, College Football Hall of Famer
- Kurt Busch, 2026 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, 2004 NASCAR Cup Series Champion, 2017 Daytona 500 winner
- Jeremy Roenick, NHL Hall of Famer, nine-time NHL All-Star, two-time member of the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team, including the silver medal-winning team in the 2002 Winter Olympics
- Apolo Ohno, eight-time Olympic speedskating medalist, member of the International Sports Hall of Fame and U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame
- Michelle Wie West, 2014 U.S. Women’s Open Golf Champion, youngest to qualify for a USGA event
- Frankie Dettori, member of the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame, three-time British Flat Racing Champion jockey, winner of nearly 300 Group 1 races
More About the Great Sports Legends Dinner
In addition, Barth Green, M.D., professor of neurological surgery at the Miller School and co-founder and chairman of The Miami Project, received The Buoniconti Fund Award. Legendary investor and business icon Mario Gabelli received the Outstanding Philanthropist Award.
Music icon, philanthropist, eight-time Grammy Award winner and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Gloria Estefan and Bob Costas, the 28-time Emmy Award winning broadcaster, 12-time prime-time host of the Olympic Games, National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee and sports broadcasting Hall of Famer, served as event emcees. Estefan’s connection to The Buoniconti Fund dates back more than three decades, when she suffered a severe spinal cord injury in a tour bus accident. Costas also has a longtime connection to The Buoniconti Fund, having served as emcee of the Great Sports Legends Dinner and narrator for its video tributes to the honorees for many years.
Foreigner, the 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees with worldwide sales of more than 80 million albums, performed during the program.
Forty years ago, my life changed forever. What was just a simple tackle in a college football game was anything but simple for me and my family. That tackle could have been the end of my life, but it saved and transformed it instead.
Marc Buoniconti
The title sponsors of the dinner were the DiMare Family 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. Paul DiMare, who passed away in 2022, was a longtime member of The Buoniconti Fund Board who for many years championed The Miami Project’s cutting-edge research.
Presenting sponsors were Tudor Group and the Mack Family. The Great Sports Legends Dinner Photo Experience was sponsored by Christine E. Lynn, who donated $500,000 in honor of Marc Buoniconti. Mark Dalton was event chairman. Co-chairs were Reed Mack and Richard Gray. 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.”
“Forty years ago, my life changed forever,” said Marc Buoniconti, The Buoniconti Fund’s president. “What was just a simple tackle in a college football game was anything but simple for me and my family. That tackle could have been the end of my life, but it saved and transformed it instead. My injury spurred my father, the late NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti, Dr. Green and so many others into action to find a cure for paralysis and other neurological diseases and conditions. Each year we get closer to our goals thanks to the support of the Sports Legends, honorees, sponsors and donors, present and past, who continue to join us. This event will help accelerate new treatments so that one day soon the millions living with spinal cord and brain injuries, and so many other neurological injuries, can have effective cures.”
Tags: Great Sports Legends Dinner, Marc Buoniconti, Nick Buoniconti, spinal cord injuries, The Buoniconti Fund, The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis