The nominees for the 2026 ESPYs are out, with New York Knicks hero Jalen Brunson leading a crowded lineup of sports stars for this year’s installment of the award show.
Brunson is nominated in the best athlete: men’s sports category alongside Lionel Messi, Shohei Ohtani, and Matthew Stafford. Ohtani is actually nominated in three categories, including best single-game performance, and best MLB player.
Brunson is also nominated for best championship performance, with the Knicks also nominated for best team.
The Best athlete: women’s sports category, includes Hilary Knight, Nelly Korda, Mikaela Shiffrin and A’ja Wilson. First-time ESPY nominees include Bam Adebayo, Lauren Betts, Macklin Celebrini, Hannah Hidalgo, Drake Maye, Fernando Mendoza, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
The Knicks presence is significant, as this year’s ESPYs will return to New York after more than 25 years in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, with Saturday Night Live star Marcello Hernandez set to host.
The awards show will air live from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, July 15, 2026 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, and will stream on the ESPN app. Voting is underway and will run through July 15 when the awards are handed out.
Below is the full list of ESPY nominees.
BEST ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS
Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS
Hilary Knight, Hockey
Nelly Korda, Golf
Mikaela Shiffrin, Ski
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE
Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks
Alysa Liu, Figure Skating
Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Football
BEST RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE
Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns – broke the NFL single-season sack record
Megan Grant, UCLA Softball – broke the NCAA single-season softball home run record
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Cross-Country Skier – first athlete to win six golds at Winter Games
Sabastian Sawe, Long-Distance Runner – first to finish a marathon in under two hours
BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE
Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
Aerin Frankel, USA Women’s Hockey
Connor Hellebuyck, USA Men’s Hockey
Teagan Kavan, Texas Longhorns Softball
BEST COMEBACK ATHLETE
Anthony Kim, Golf
Savy King, Angel City FC
Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers
Kyndal Stowers, Texas A&M Volleyball
BEST PLAY
Golden Goal for Gold! – Olympic Women’s Hockey
Golden Goal for Gold! – Olympic Men’s Hockey
UConn stuns Duke with Braylon Mullins’ buzzer-beating 3 – NCAA Men’s March Madness
OG Anunoby’s Tip-In – NBA Finals
Caleb Williams Game Tying TD vs. Rams – NFL
BEST TEAM
Las Vegas Aces, WNBA
Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB
Indiana Hoosiers, NCAA Football
Carolina Hurricanes, NHL
New York Knicks, NBA
Texas Longhorns, NCAA Softball
Seattle Seahawks, NFL
Team USA Men’s Hockey
Team USA Women’s Hockey
BEST SINGLE-GAME PERFORMANCE
Tyce Armstrong, Baylor Baseball – hit three grand slams in a single game, tying a record set 50 years ago
Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat – scored 83 points for the Miami Heat in a 150–129 win against the Washington Wizards, recording the second-highest single-game total in NBA history
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame Basketball – broke the NCAA record for most steals (16) in a game
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers – pitched six scoreless innings, struck out 10 batters and hit three home runs
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS
Cameron Boozer, Duke Basketball
Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Football
Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State Wrestling
Donavan Phillip, NC State Soccer
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS
Olivia Babcock, Pittsburgh Volleyball
Lauren Betts, UCLA Basketball
Madison Taylor, Northwestern Lacrosse
Faith Torrez, Oklahoma Gymnastics
BEST ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY
Jake Adicoff, Para Nordic-Skiing
Declan Farmer, Para Hockey
Oksana Masters, Para Cross-Country Skiing
Susannah Scaroni, Wheelchair Racing
BEST NFL PLAYER
Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
BEST MLB PLAYER
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
BEST NHL PLAYER
Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks
Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
BEST NBA PLAYER
Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
BEST WNBA PLAYER
Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream
Alyssa Thomas, Phoenix Mercury
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
BEST DRIVER
Kimi Antonelli, F1
Lando Norris, F1
Alex Palou, IndyCar
Tyler Reddick, NASCAR
BEST FIGHTER
Terence Crawford, Boxing
Gabriela Fundora, Boxing
Justin Gaethje, MMA
Claressa Shields, Boxing
BEST SOCCER PLAYER
Temwa Chawinga, KC Current
Ousmane Dembélé, PSG/France
Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF
Alexia Putellas, Spain/Barcelona
BEST GOLFER
Nelly Korda
Rory McIlroy
Scottie Scheffler
Jeeno Thitikul
BEST TENNIS PLAYER
Carlos Alcaraz
Elena Rybakina
Aryna Sabalenka
Jannik Sinner
