Days before the Cleveland Cavaliers face the Golden State Warriors in one of the most talked about NBA finals to date, hundreds of the world’s top athletes gathered in Los Angeles for the 30th annual Sports Spectacular Dinner Gala. On Sunday, May 30 The Sports Spectacular Diabetes; Obesity Wellness and Research Center presented a star studded evening in support of eradicating diabetes and obesity through research, prevention and education. The research center located within the prestigious Cedar-Sinai Hospital has been linking athletes with their medical research for decades, each year honoring a new face amongst the sports world with the Spirit Award for their commitment to improving society.

Legendary athletes like Muhammad Ali, Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant have received the high honor and this year Russell Westbrook point guard for the OKC Thunder and arguably one of the top players of the NBA this season receives the distinction. Off the court Westbrook heads up his own non-profit Why Not? aimed at encouraging children to never give up and to push themselves to go after their dreams always asking the question “why not me?” He also opened a new reading center at North Highland Elementary in Oklahoma City. He stocked it with 1,200 books for all ages and gave 450 students at North Highland a book of their own to take home. Joe Jonas presented Westbrook with the Spirit Award at the end of the evening as attendees enjoyed an elegant sherbert sundae.

Before the immaculate gala commenced Sports Spectacular hosted their annual silent auction right outside the gala doors. Proceeds from the auction contribute to the research and education efforts of the non-profit and provide winners with a pretty large amount of bragging rights. Bidding starts at $500 and caps off at a bewildering $9,000 tag for autographed jerseys, shoes, helmets, basketballs and footballs. You could also throw in your bid for jaw dropping courtside seats,VIP Dodger dugout tickets and garden box tickets at the hollywood bowl. Just in case you were not a sports junkie you could place your bid on an all expense paid exotic trips, memberships to hot yoga studios and wine party sets. Possibilities were endless.

As the auction proceeded the stars arrived one by one and donned the red carpet before proceeding into the VIP lounge. Once the final bids were placed and the silent auction officially closed the gala doors officially opened and the crowd poured into an enormous ballroom gleaming from wall to wall with crisp white china and crystal clear stemsets. John Salley retired NBA player and cast member of Kevin Hart’s Real Husbands of Hollywood was the comedic host for the evening and encouraged everyone to #BeSpectacular and spread the knowledge of Diabetes prevention at every chance possible.