The nominees for the 2026 ESPYs are in, with New York Knicks hero Jalen Brunson main a number of sports activities stars for this 12 months’s awards present.
Brunson is nominated within the Finest Athlete: Males’s Sports activities class alongside Lionel Messi, Shohei Ohtani and Matthew Stafford. Ohtani is definitely nominated in three classes, together with finest single-game efficiency and finest MLB participant.
Brunson can be nominated for Finest Championship Efficiency, with the Knicks additionally nominated for Finest Crew.
Finest Athlete: Ladies’s Sports activities class contains Hilary Knight, Nelly Korda, Mikaela Shiffrin and A’ja Wilson. First-time ESPY nominees embrace Bam Adebayo, Lauren Betts, Macklin Celebrini, Hannah Hidalgo, Drake Maye, Fernando Mendoza and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
The Knicks’ presence is critical, as this 12 months’s ESPYs will return to New York after greater than 25 years in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, with Saturday Night time Dwell star Marcello Hernandez as host.
The awards present will air reside from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Heart on Wednesday, July 15, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC and might be streamed on the ESPN app. Voting is underway and can proceed till July 15, when the prizes might be awarded.
Beneath is the total checklist 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, Golfer
Mikaela Shiffrin, Skier
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Ace
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE
Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks
Alysa Liu, determine skating
Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Soccer
BEST RECORD PERFORMANCE
Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns – broke NFL single-season sack file
Megan Grant, UCLA Softball – broke the NCAA single-season softball dwelling run file
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, cross-country skier – first athlete to win six gold medals on the Winter Video games
Sabastian Sawe, long-distance runner – first to finish a marathon in beneath two hours
BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE
Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
Aerin Frankel, USA girls’s hockey
Connor Hellebuyck, USA males’s hockey
Teagan Kavan, Texas Longhorns softball
BEST RETURNING ATHLETE
Anthony Kim, golfer
King Savy, Angel Metropolis FC
Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers
Kyndal Stowers, Texas A&M Volleyball
BEST GAME
Golden purpose for gold! – Ladies’s Olympic Hockey
Golden purpose for gold! – Males’s Olympic hockey
UConn stuns Duke with Braylon Mullins buzzer-beater 3 – NCAA Males’s March Insanity
OG Anunoby Tip-In – NBA Finals
Caleb Williams recreation tying TD vs. Rams – NFL
BEST TEAM
Las Vegas Ace, WNBA
Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB
Indiana Hoosiers, NCAA soccer
Carolina Hurricanes, NHL
New York Knicks, NBA
Texas Longhorns, NCAA softball
Seattle Seahawks, NFL
Crew USA males’s hockey
Crew USA girls’s hockey
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A GAME
Tyce Armstrong, Baylor Baseball – hit three Grand Slams in a single recreation, tying a file set 50 years in the past
Bam Adebayo, Miami Warmth – Scored 83 factors for the Miami Warmth in a 150–129 victory over the Washington Wizards, recording the second-highest recreation whole in NBA historical past.
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame Basketball – broke the NCAA file for many steals (16) in a recreation
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers – pitched six scoreless innings, struck out 10 batters and hit three dwelling runs
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS
Cameron Boozer, Duke Basketball
Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Soccer
Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State wrestling
Donavan Phillip, North Carolina State soccer
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS
Olivia Babcock, Pittsburgh volleyball
Lauren Betts, UCLA basketball
Madison Taylor, Northwest Lacrosse
Religion Torrez, Oklahoma Gymnastics
BEST DISABLED ATHLETE
Jake Adicoff, for Nordic snowboarding
Declan Farmer, for hockey
Oksana Masters, cross-country paraskiing
Susannah Scaroni, wheelchair racing
BEST PLAYER IN THE NFL
Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
BEST MLB PLAYER
Aaron Decide, New York Yankees
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
BEST PLAYER IN THE NHL
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 Metropolis Thunder
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
BEST WNBA PLAYER
Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Allisha Grey, Atlanta Dream
Alyssa Thomas, Phoenix Mercury
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Ace
BEST DRIVER
Kimi Antonelli, F1
Lando Norris, F1
Alex Palou, IndyCar
Tyler Reddick, NASCAR
BEST FIGHTER
Terence Crawford, Boxing
Gabriela Fundor, Boxing
Justin Gaethje, MMA
Claressa Shields, Boxing
BEST FOOTBALL PLAYER
Temwa Chawinga, KC Present
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