ESPY 2026 Winners, Awards Results, Recap, Top Moments and Twitter Reaction

This year's ESPY Awards ceremony took place on Wednesday from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York.

In some ways, this night served as an ode to the hometown and NBA champion New York Knicks, who enjoyed a great evening.

The Knicks capped the night by winning the best team award.

Point guard Jalen Brunson won best male athlete, best championship performance and best NBA player honors. And forward OG Anunoby took home best play thanks to his game-winning tip-in against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

Comedian and Saturday Night Live star Marcello Hernández hosted the proceedings, which annually honor the biggest names in sports from the past year.

Here's a look at this year's list of award winners and finalists (via ESPN Press Room and USA Today) that were announced on the broadcast as well as some top moments and reaction.

Arthur Ashe Award for Courage: Former NBA center Jason Collins

Jimmy V Award: Former MLB pitcher Jim Abbott

Pat Tillman Award for Service: US Coast Guard Petty Officer Scott Ruskan

Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award: Golden State Warriors G Stephen Curry

Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award: Kelis Armstrong, Julia Howe and Samuel Phillips

Best Athlete, Men's Sports

• Winner: New York Knicks G Jalen Brunson
• Inter Miami CF F Lionel Messi
• Los Angeles Dodgers DH/SP Shohei Ohtani
• Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford

Best Athlete, Women's Sports

• Winner: Las Vegas Aces C A'ja Wilson
• PWHL Detroit/US Hockey F Hilary Knight
• Golfer Nelly Korda
• Skier Mikaela Shiffrin

Best Breakthrough Athlete

• Winner: Figure Skater Alysa Liu
• San Jose Sharks F Macklin Celebrini
• New England Patriots QB Drake Maye
• Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza

Best Record-Breaking Performance

• Winner: Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett breaking the NFL's single-season sack record (23)
• UCLA softball star Megan Grant breaking the NCAA single-season softball home run record (42)
• Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Høsflot Klæbo became the first athlete to win six golds at a single Winter Olympic Games in 2026.
• Kenyan long-distance runner Sabastian Sawe became the first person to run a sub-two-hour marathon (London Marathon, 1:59:30).

Best Championship Performance

• Winner: New York Knicks PG Jalen Brunson
• USA Women's Hockey G Aerin Frankel
• USA Men's Hockey G Connor Hellebuyck
• Texas Longhorns Softball P Teagan Kavan

Best Play

• Winner: New York Knicks F OG Anunoby's Tip-In to win Game 4 of NBA Finals
• USA Women's Hockey Gold Medal-Winning Goal (Megan Keller)
• USA Men's Hockey Gold Medal-Winning Goal (Jack Hughes)
• UConn F Braylon Mullins' buzzer-beating 3 vs. Duke in men's Elite Eight
• Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams Game-Tying TD vs. Los Angeles Rams

Best Team

• Winner: New York Knicks, NBA champions
• Las Vegas Aces, WNBA champions
• Los Angeles Dodgers, World Series champions
• Indiana Hoosiers, NCAA Football Division I-FBS champions
• Carolina Hurricanes, Stanley Cup winners
• Texas Longhorns, NCAA Softball champions
• Seattle Seahawks, Super Bowl winners
• Team USA Men's Hockey, gold medalists
• Team USA Women's Hockey, gold medalists

Best Single-Game Performance

• Winner: Los Angeles Dodgers DH/P Shohei Ohtani: NLCS Game 4 vs. Milwaukee Brewers (three home runs and 6 scoreless innings while striking out 10)
• Baylor 1B Tyce Armstrong, Baylor Baseball: hit three grand slams on Opening Day against New Mexico State in a single game, only second player to achieve feat.
• Miami Heat C Bam Adebayo: 83 points vs. Washington Wizards (second-highest scoring total in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100)
• Notre Dame G Hannah Hidalgo: NCAA record 16 steals vs. Akron

Best College Athlete, Men's Sports

• Winner: Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza
• Duke F Cameron Boozer
• Penn State Wrestler Mitchell Mesenbrink (165 lb.)
• NC State F Donavan Phillip

Best College Athlete, Women's Sports

• Winner: UCLA C Lauren Betts
• Pittsburgh Volleyball RS Olivia Babcock
• Northwestern Lacrosse A Madison Taylor
• Oklahoma Gymnast Faith Torrez

Best NFL Player

• Winner: Cleveland Browns (now Los Angeles Rams) DE Myles Garrett
• New England Patriots QB Drake Maye
• Seattle Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
• Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford

Best NBA Player

• Winner: New York Knicks G Jalen Brunson
• Oklahoma City Thunder G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
• Denver Nuggets C Nikola Jokić
• San Antonio Spurs C Victor Wembanyama

Best WNBA Player

• Winner: Las Vegas Aces C A'ja Wilson
• Minnesota Lynx F Napheesa Collier
• Atlanta Dream G Allisha Gray
• Phoenix Mercury F Alyssa Thomas

Best Soccer Player

• Winner: Inter Miami CF and F Lionel Messi
• KC Current and Malawi F Temwa Chawinga
• PSG and France F Ousmane Dembélé
• Barcelona and Spain F/MF Alexia Putellas

Gatorade Players of the Year: Maddie DiMaria and Grady Emerson

Top Moments and Twitter Reaction

Former MLB pitcher Jim Abbott's acceptance of the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance served as one of the clear top moments of the night.

Abbott was born without a right hand, but that did not stop him from playing 10 big league seasons. He even finished third in the AL Cy Young race in 1991 and pitched a no-hitter in 1993.

US Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan, this year's Pat Tillman Award for Service winner, received a standing ovation at the ESPY's.

He and fellow crew members Lieutenant Ian Hopper, Lieutenant Blair Ogujiofor and Petty Officer Seth Reeves helped rescue nearly 200 people during the Hill Country floods last July. Ruskan himself has been credited for saving 165 lives.

Jarron Collins accepted the Arthur Ashe award on behalf of his late brother Jason Collins, the first active player to come out as gay in any of the four major men's professional sports leagues in the United States.

The Knicks were the big winners as noted before with five awards, and fans took note.

This was also a big night for Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson, the four-time WNBA MVP and three-time WNBA champion who led her team to another title last year. Wilson is the women's athlete of the year after a strong 2025 and could very well win the award again next summer.

Alysa Liu also took home the honors for best breakthrough athlete, a well-deserved award after she won gold in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics thanks to a phenomenal free skate performance.

The ESPY Awards always takes place on the day after the MLB All-Star Game, a time when the sports calendar (mostly) rests, outside of WNBA action, NBA summer league games and other events.

However, that wasn't the case this year as Argentina beat England 2-1 in the FIFA World Cup semifinal. Lionel Messi, this year's soccer player of the year at the ESPY Awards, registered two assists.

The sports calendar will kick into higher gear Thursday, though, with the return of MLB plus the start of the Open Championship as well.