ESPY Awards 2012: Predicting Big Winners in Most Exciting Categories

The 2012 ESPY Awards are taking place Wednesday night, beginning at 9 p.m. ET. You can catch the exciting ceremony televised on ESPN or streaming on ESPN3.

It's always an exciting night, full of laughs, intrigue and entertainment. 

Now that you know when and how you can watch the event, let’s take a look at five of the most exciting  categories and predict the winners.

Best Male Athlete: LeBron James

Nominees: Novak Djokovic, LeBron James, Aaron Rodgers, Justin Verlander

LeBron’s third NBA MVP trophy and first NBA Finals win should secure this award for the 27-year-old superstar.

While Djoker’s epic 2011 season, Rodgers incredible numbers over the past two years and Verlander’s Cy Young and MVP award are certainly worthy of recognition, LBJ’s year was the most dominant.

The King was finally crowned and he will garner further recognition tonight at the ESPYS.

Best Female Athlete: Brittney Griner

Nominees: Brittney Griner, Maria Sharapova, Lindsey Vonn, Abby Wambach

The Baylor junior led the Bears to one of the most epic seasons in college basketball history, men or women’s. She was named the AP Player of the Year and the Final Four’s Most Outstanding player after she averaged 23.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and five blocks per game.

However, the most impressive thing of all was the Bears' 40-0 overall record and a national championship. That set the record for the most wins in NCAA history and that is why Griner is the best female athlete. 

Best Team: Los Angeles Kings

Nominees: Alabama (college football), Baylor (women's basketball), Kentucky (men's basketball), Los Angeles Kings, Miami Heat, New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals

This was an extremely tough call.

However, Alabama gets passed on because they lost to LSU before beating them in the national championship; The Baylor women will be recognized when Griner wins her award; the Miami Heat face the same situation with LeBron; the New York Giants were lucky to have even won a Super Bowl.

It came down to the Cardinals and Kings, but L.A. gets the nod because they got hot at the right time and absolutely tore apart the competition in the postseason as a No. 8 seed.

No other No. 8 seed in the history of professional sports in America has accomplished this goal, which is why the Kings will win the ESPY.

Best Breakthrough Athlete: Jeremy Lin

Nominees: Anthony Davis, Robert Griffin III, Rob Gronkowski, Jeremy Lin, Alex Morgan

This award can be summed up in one word: Linsanity.

No other athlete enthralled NBA fans, casual observers and even non-sports fans the way Jeremy Lin did during his seemingly-out-of-nowhere breakout back in February.

He inspired a movement and became an unprecedented success story. It will be interesting to see if that will continue during the 2012-13 season, but for now, Lin is the breakthrough athlete of 2011-12. 

Best Moment: Tim Tebow’s Sudden Death Playoff Touchdown

Nominees: Derek Jeter's 3000th hit, Tebow to Thomas sudden death playoff touchdown, Bubba Watson winning Masters, Final night of the 2011 MLB season

There were a ton of great moments in sports over the past year. However, none may have been more replayed and more exciting to watch than Tebow’s overtime strike to Demaryius Thomas in the AFC Wild Card Round.

It won ended the game and had Tebowmania at a fever pitch, but it was not enough to keep the QB in Denver.

He was traded to the Jets during the offseason after the organization acquired Peyton Manning, but his playoff heroics will not soon be forgotten.