Jalen Brunson, Lionel Messi, Mikaela Shiffrin and Shohei Ohtani Among ESPY Nominees

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