Robin Roberts will be honored by ESPN with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in its 2013 Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award (ESPYS) in Los Angeles this July. The news anchor, TV personality, cancer survior and inspirational figure will soon be inducted in the list of honorees which includes icons like Muhammad Ali, Dean Smith, Billie Jean King and Pat Summitt.

The sports cable network announced the award’s recipient, Tuesday.The award is presented to individuals whose contribution goes beyond the realm of sports.

As one of the first female sports anchor on ESPN in the 1990s, Robert has worked with ABC’s “Good Morning America” for almost 20 years, paving the way for women in broadcasting. Her personal journey also served as an inspiration because she overcame life-threatening illnesses twice, ESPN says.

The 2013 ESPYS will recognize the strength and courage Roberts has exhibited throughout her life and career.

As an athlete herself, Roberts has played four seasons for the Southern Louisiana University women’s basketball team and ranks among the team’s leaders for points scored, rebounds, field goals made and games played. Roberts was inducted into the Women’s Institute on Sport and Education’s Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

She has held several anchor/reporter jobs in Mississippi, Tennessee and Atlanta before joining ESPN as an anchorwoman for “SportsCenter” and “NFL Primetime” in February 1990. She is one of the first female sports anchor of the cable network. While at ESPN, Roberts popularity grew, as she took on more roles including hosting ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” and become a play-by-play announcer for sports such as tennis and figure skating. In what is deemed a ground-breaking moment in sports media, Roberts stepped in to become the first woman to host an NFL pregame show during the playoffs, substituting for John Saunders. In 1995, five years with ESPN and three Emmys later, she began working as a featured reporter for “Good Morning America.” She worked for both ESPN and ABC until she was named co-anchor, a decade later, for GMA in 2005.

ESPN President John Skipper says of Roberts, “Robin brings an amazing amount of energy, compassion and determination to everything she does.” He adds “Those qualities made her an incredible asset during her time here at ESPN, and they have served her well as she battled the terrible health challenges that she’s had to face.”

Almost six years ago, in 2007, Roberts was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has been transparent about her illness and empowered viewers as they followed her journey to successfully beating the disease. In 2012, she battled yet another illness, a rare blood disorder called MDS (myelodysplastic syndrome), receiving a bone marrow transplant from sister, Sally-Ann Roberts.

“Her unbreakable spirit was ingrained from an early age in Mississippi,” says Ben Sherwood, president of ABC News.

ESPYS will be shown on ESPN on July 17 at 9 p.m. and honors ESPN’s commitment to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, a partnership launched with the late Jim Valvano in 1993.