CRESTON — Riverview Community Center and the Charlotte Hornets are receiving attention ahead of the annual ESPY awards.

The Hornets are finalists for ESPN’s 2026 Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year Award, which recognizes a professional sports team that demonstrates how the power of sport can strengthen communities and create a lasting impact far beyond the game, according to nba.com.

Central to this year’s nomination is the Hornets Legacy Project, which helped revitalize the RCC gym.

In partnership with Lowe’s Hardware, the Hornets previously donated funds and materials to help restore RCC’s gym following Hurricane Helene’s September 2024 flooding and devastation.

Two Hornets’ players and front office officials, Lowe’s employees, community members, and county commissioners gathered at Riverview on Sept. 25 last year to commemorate the beginning of the gym restoration project.

Players and front office staff painted a fresh coat of primer on the gym’s walls during the Sept. 25 visit, before contractors later finished the renovations with new basketball hoops, painted the walls in turquoise, purple, and silver, and placed a Hornets logo on a new shock-absorbing court after its installation.

The Charlotte Hornets were again buzzing in Creston on April 9, as the NBA organization returned to the Riverview Community Center for a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the official reopening of the center’s basketball gym that Hurricane Helene flooded and damaged on Sept. 24, 2024.

While the Hornet’s Legacy Project returned on-the-court action to the former elementary school turned community center, the charitable endeavor preserved and restored a lasting Ashe County relic and legacy.

“This building is more than bricks and mortar-it’s a gathering place, a safe space for kids and families, and a heartbeat of this community,” said Ashe County Commissioners’ Chair Todd McNeill during the project’s unveiling last year. “By helping us restore it, the Hornets and Lowes are giving Ashe County more than new floors, walls, and equipment. You are giving us back a place where children will play, seniors will gather, and neighbors will come together for years to come. We can’t wait to see this center filled again with energy, laughter, and community pride.”

More about ESPY Awards

The annual sports award show ceremony, under the ESPN flagship, honors major athletic achievements and memorable sports moments like the Grammys and Emmys, with the light-hearted spectacle of a highly anticipated red carpet rollout among the sporting world’s biggest stars and entertainment celebrities.

Fans vote on traditional competitive categories and specialized honors named in memoriam for famous posthumously recognized athletes, including the Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Valvano, and Pat Tillman awards.

The Charlotte Hornets are one of four finalists for the Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year award, joining the Baltimore Ravens (NFL), Cleveland Browns (NFL), and Seattle Storm (WNBA).

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