The 2026 ESPY Awards were celebrated in New York City tonight. Hosted by Saturday Night Live star Marcello Hernández at Lincoln Center, ESPN’s annual awards ceremony celebrated the year’s top athletes, teams and most memorable performances across the world of sports.
Complete list of nominees and winners (updated live)
BEST ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS
Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks (WINNER)
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 (WINNER)
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE
Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks
Alysa Liu, Figure Skating (WINNER)
Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Football
BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE
Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks (WINNER)
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 (WINNER)
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 (WINNER)
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 (WINNER)
Texas Longhorns, NCAA Softball
Seattle Seahawks, NFL
Team USA Men’s Hockey
Team USA Women’s Hockey
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS
Cameron Boozer, Duke Basketball
Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Football (WINNER)
Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State Wrestling
Donavan Phillip, NC State Soccer
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS
Olivia Babcock, Pittsburgh Volleyball
Lauren Betts, UCLA Basketball (WINNER)
Madison Taylor, Northwestern Lacrosse
Faith Torrez, Oklahoma Gymnastics
BEST ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY
Jake Adicoff, Para Nordic-Skiing
Declan Farmer, Para Hockey (WINNER)
Oksana Masters, Para Cross-Country Skiing
Susannah Scaroni, Wheelchair Racing
BEST NFL PLAYER
Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns (WINNER)
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 (WINNER)
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 (WINNER)
BEST NBA PLAYER
Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks (WINNER)
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 (WINNER)
BEST DRIVER
Kimi Antonelli, F1
Lando Norris, F1 (WINNER)
Alex Palou, IndyCar
Tyler Reddick, NASCAR
BEST FIGHTER
Terence Crawford, Boxing (WINNER)
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 (WINNER)
Alexia Putellas, Spain/Barcelona
Rory McIlroy
Scottie Scheffler (WINNER)
Jeeno Thitikul
BEST TENNIS PLAYER
Carlos Alcaraz (WINNER)
Elena Rybakina
Aryna Sabalenka
Jannik Sinner
