The 2020 athletes of the year

It would have been fun to see what the Chicago White Sox star could have accomplished had we'd seen a full 162-game season. Regardless, Abreu's 2020 campaign was no less sensational and good enough for the Cuban slugger to become the first White Sox player to be named AL Most Valuable Player since Frank Thomas in 1994. In 60 games, Abreu ranked among the major-league leaders by batting .317 and slugging .617 with 19 homers and 60 RBIs to help Chicago reach the postseason for the first time since 2008.

For a second straight season, Giannis was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player. Now, he was not able to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to an NBA title, but the "Greek Freak" continued to exude his dominance over the league. During the unique 2019-20 season, Antetokounmpo averaged career highs with 29.5 points and 13.6 rebounds over 63 games. He was also named the 2020 NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

Connor McDavid might get most of the attention in Edmonton and throughout the NHL, but his Oilers teammate is arguably the league's best offensive player at the moment. When all the dust settled on the NHL's 2019-20 season, Draisaitl led the league with career highs of 110 points and 67 assists, while his 43 goals ranked fourth overall. Though the Oilers fell short in the NHL playoffs, Draisaitl became the first German-born player to win the Art Ross Trophy (most points in a season) and Hart Trophy, as the league's most valuable player.

The young Swedish pole vaulter was named Male World Athlete of the Year for 2020. In February, Duplantis set a world record (indoor) with a clearing attempt of 6.18 meters at Glasgow. The 21-year-old also set an outdoor record with his clear of 6.15 m at Rome in September. Just think what's ahead for this young world superstar, who still has the Olympics to look forward to.

Back in 2016, Elliott was named NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year. By 2020, Elliott had won the NASCAR Cup Series. In 2020, Elliott won five Cup Series races -- giving him 11 of the kind for his career. This season's wins came at Phoenix, Martinsville, Daytona, and Charlotte twice. Fans of the sport felt it was only a matter of time before Elliott would be in this position. Now, it's a question of how long can he keep it going.

It was quite the 2020 season for Freeman. In July, Freeman tested positive for COVID-19 but recovered well enough to put together the best campaign of his career. In 60 games for the NL East champion Atlanta Braves, Freeman hit .341 (third-best in the majors) and slugged .640 while belting 13 home runs and driving in 53 runs. He also led the majors with 23 doubles and 51 runs scored. That was more than enough to earn him NL MVP honors -- the first Brave since Chipper Jones in 1999 to do so.

COVID-19 and the coronavirus pandemic has had an effect on college football teams on various levels. At Vanderbilt, it's been a rough season, but one of the brightest moments for the Commodores and the college game itself, has been Fuller. A standpoint soccer player for the Vandy women's program, Fuller was pressed into football action and became the first player from a Power Five conference to play in-game, when she kicked off to open the second half versus Missouri on Nov. 28. Two weeks later, she became the first woman from a Power Five school to convert an extra point in a game -- against Tennessee.

Ionescu's 2020 basketball season -- as a professional -- did not end as well as it started -- in college. The former Oregon star ended one of the great college careers, prematurely due to COVID-19, as the only player in NCAA Division I basketball history to record at least 2,000 points (2,562), 1,000 assists (1,091), and 1,000 rebounds (1,040). The NCAA's all-time triple-doubles leader, Ionescu earned plenty of hardware as a senior this year, including The Associated Press  Player of the Year and Naismith Player of the Year. Ionescu was the No. 1 overall pick by the New York Liberty, but her rookie WNBA season last just three games after suffering a season-ending ankle injury.

The king added his fourth NBA title crown. This time with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. The Lakers' Finals' triumph over Miami made James one of four players in league history to win titles with three different teams. At 35 years, 287 days, he's also the second-oldest player in NBA history to be named NBA Finals MVP after he averaged 29.8 points on 59.1-percent shooting and 11.8 rebounds with 8.5 assists in the series against his former Heat team.

It was a special season for Johnson in 2020, even though there weren't really many to watch it up close and personal. Johnson, the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world, won the FedEx Cup and was tabbed the PGA Tour Player of the Year. The highlight of Johnson's season, obviously, came at Augusta, where claimed his second career major title when he shot 20-under par to win a November-held Masters by 5 strokes.

With the Crimson Tide's high-powered, balanced offense under his control in 2020, Jones has not disappointed. Entering Alabama's SEC Championship Game, Jones leads the nation's No. 1 team while throwing for 3,321 yards with 27 touchdowns and eight interceptions for an offense that averages 49.5 points. It's also important to note that Jones is surrounded by some of the best players in the country like receiver DeVonta Smith (83 receptions, 1,327 yards, 15 TDs) and running back Najee Harris (1,084 yards, 22 TDs).

The Bayern Munich and Polish National Team star was named the 2020 UEFA Men's Player of the Year. In club play during the 2019-20 season, Lewandowski recorded 34 goals and during the early portion of the 2020-21 campaign, the 32-year-old totaled 13 through his first 10 matches. Lewandowski also posted two goals in four international matches over four caps.

The 2018 NFL Most Valuable Player, Mahomes could earn that honor again for the 2020 season. He's also trying to help the Kansas City Chiefs repeat as Super Bowl champions. In the early portion of 2020, Mahomes was essentially the reason the Chiefs are in a position to do so after rallying them to a 31-20 win over San Francisco in Super Bowl LIV. Mahomes was named MVP of the game, throwing for 286 yards and overcoming two interceptions by throwing a pair of fourth-quarter TDs.

For the second time in three years, Osaka won the U.S. Open in 2020. Doing so in front of what was essentially an empty stadium in Flushing. Osaka, who defeated Victoria Azarenka in the final after losing the first set, also made a statement by wearing various different masks supporting the Black Lives Matter movement during the tournament. For those keeping score at home, that's three Grand Slam titles for the 23-year-old.

Already a two-time NFL MVP (2011, 2014), Rodgers could be heading for a third in 2020. Rodgers is on pace to throw for at least 4,000 yards for a third consecutive season, and through 13 games, he tossed 39 touchdowns and four interceptions for the NFC North-champion Green Bay Packers. At 37-years-old, many thought Rodgers' best days were behind him. That does not appear to be the case.

The Venezuelan, who won a silver medal in the triple jump at the 2016 Summer Olympics, was named Female World Athlete of the Year in 2020. Why? During this shortened 2020 track and field season, Rojas won all four of her competitions -- indoor and outdoor. But, that's not all. The 25-year-old Rojas broke the indoor world record for the triple jump with a hop of 15.43 meters at Madrid.

After missing the entire 2019 season due to an Achilles injury suffered while playing overseas, Stewart returned with a vengeance in 2020 to help the Seattle Storm win the WNBA MVP title. During the regular season, Stewart averaged 19.7 points, while shooting, 45.1 percent, and 8.3 rebounds with a career-high 3.6 assists. She earned WNBA Finals honors after she averaged 25.7 points and shot 53.8 percent during the playoffs.

It's quite a shame that we never got to see what Toppin and his Dayton Flyers could accomplish during the 2020 NCAA Tournament. Instead, Flyers fans have the memory of a truly special 2019-20 season, where the 6-foot-9 Toppin averaged 20.0 points, shot 63.3 percent, and pulled down 7.5 rebounds while also dishing out 2.2 assists per contest. For that, Toppin swept the three major college player of the year awards -- Wooden, Naismith, and AP Player of the Year.

Depending on who is doing the talking or projecting, Florida's Trask joins Mac Jones as a frontrunner for the 2020 Heisman Trophy. The senior Trask ended his regular season leading the country with 3,717 passing yards and 40 touchdown passes. He also completed a career-high 70.2-percent of his throws while being intercepted just five times en route to helping the Gators to a spot in the SEC Championship Game.

Two seasons after being named WNBA Rookie of the Year, Wilson was honored as the league MVP in 2020. Wilson was simply stellar inside the "Wubble" for this unique 2020 WNBA campaign. She averaged 20.5 points and shot a career-best 48 percent from the field. Wilson also posted career-high averages for rebounds (8.5), blocks (2.0), and steals (1.2) while leading the Las Vegas Aces to the WNBA Finals.