2017 ESPN Body Issue
Athletes bared all for ESPN's annual Body Issue -- both in terms of stripping down for photos and also opening up about why they're proud of their bodies.
Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki posed for the cover of ESPN's Body Issue and talked to the magazine about her struggle to heal after her injury in 2016.
She also said of her body, "I've realized that I can't spend time stressing about something I don't have and just embrace what I do have ... If I don't look like a supermodel on the runway, that's OK because I look good in my own way."
Click through to see more photos from ESPN's Body Issue, which hits newsstands July 7.
Michelle Waterson
MMA star Michelle Waterson is photographed by Mark Seliger at the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness area (Bisti Badlands) in Farmington, New Mexico on April 28, 2017 for ESPN's Body Issue.
She told ESPN, "MMA is not for someone who wants to keep cute. Your body changes. You lose body fat, and that means you lose breast tissue. Your shoulders get broad, and you get scraped from the gloves. I do it because I love to do it. I could definitely be doing something else if I just wanted to look hot."
Ezekiel Elliott
Cowboys running back Zeke Elliott posed for the cover of ESPN's Body Issue.
He opened up about being relatively small for a football player and said, "Toughness is something I developed in college. I realized quickly that I was an 18-year-old kid out there playing against men. I wasn't going to be as big as them. I wasn't going to be as fast. I wasn't going to be as strong. So I started doing the things that people didn't like to do, especially at the running back position. I wanted to be the best blocking running back in America. I wanted to do the dirty work that no one else wanted to do."
Ezekiel Elliott
Zeke Elliott also told ESPN that he gets teased for being the "runt" of his family.
He said of his tall family, "They look at me like, 'Man, where'd the height go on you?' And I'm not short -- I'm 6 feet tall! But compared to everyone else, I'm kind of short at those family gatherings."
Javier Baez
Cubs player Javier Baez talked to ESPN's Body Issue about his late sister, Noely, who serves as his inspiration. Noely died in 2015 at age 21 after suffering from spina bifida.
"For me, my sister was never a crippled person," he said. "The only thing she didn't do throughout her life was walk. She is my biggest inspiration. She loved going to the ballpark; she never missed a game. She cheered a lot. We had a lot of fun together."
Isaiah Thomas
Celtics player Isaiah Thomas told ESPN he finds his 5-foot-9 height -- a rarity for the NBA -- to be a benefit.
He said, "I think by being strong and being as compact as I am, it's helped me take my game to another level."
Thomas also added, however: "If I were 6-3 or 6-5, I'd be the best player in the world. No doubt about it. And that's not just me thinking that; I mean, the world would think that."
