2026 ESPYS Awards Nominees Revealed Featuring Brunson, Wemby, Ohtani, Messi, Shiffrin, A'ja and More

Scott PolacekJun 25, 2026

Jalen Brunson is the king of New York after leading the Knicks to the NBA championship, and now he and many of the other top athletes across the sports world will take center stage in the Big Apple as nominees for The 2026 ESPYS.

ESPN announced the full list of nominees Thursday for the awards show that will air live on July 15 at 8 p.m. ET from David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Brunson will have a chance at multiple awards as a nominee for the best athlete in men's sports and the best NBA player. He will once again be competing against San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama in the NBA category after defeating him in the NBA Finals, and he will also be going up against legends from other sports such as Lionel Messi and Shohei Ohtani for the best male athlete.

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It is one of three categories Ohtani is nominated for, as he is also a candidate for the best single-game performance and the best MLB player.

Brunson isn't the only basketball champion who is nominated, as A'ja Wilson highlights the list of candidates for the best athlete in women's sports after leading the Las Vegas Aces to the WNBA title and taking home the regular season and WNBA Finals MVP awards.

She will be facing multiple Olympians in Mikaela Shiffrin and Hilary Knight, as well as golf star Nelly Korda.

Here is a full list of the nominations:

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 - NFL single-season sack record
Megan Grant, UCLA Softball - NCAA single-season softball home run record
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Cross-Country Skier - First athlete to win six golds at Winter Olympics
Sabastian Sawe, Long-Distance Runner - First athlete to finish a marathon in fewer than 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

Olympic Women's Hockey's gold-medal winning goal
Olympic Men's Hockey's gold-medal winning goal
UConn's Braylon Mullins beats Duke with a buzzer-beater in the men's NCAA tournament
OG Anunoby's tip-in to win Game 4 of NBA Finals
Caleb Williams' game-tying touchdown pass vs. Los Angeles Rams in NFL playoffs

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 - Ties 50-year-old record with three grand slams in one game
Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat - Scores 83 points in one game, the second-most in NBA history
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame Basketball - Sets NCAA record with 16 steals in one game
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers - Hit three home runs as a hitter and struck out 10 in six scoreless innings as a pitcher

BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, MEN'S SPORTS