ESPY Award nominees 2026: Complete list of players, teams for all of the ESPYs voting categories

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Around the midway point of the year, the time to recognize top figures across the sports world has arrived.

The 2026 ESPY Awards will air on Wednesday night from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City — and some of the world's most famous athletes and their incredible moments over the past year are up for nomination.

Many of the sports' champions over their last full seasons are prominently featured, including the Seattle Seahawks, Indiana Hoosiers, Las Vegas Aces, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Knicks.

Here's the full list of teams, athletes and more up for an ESPY award in 2026.

MORE: Every ESPY Award host by year

ESPY Award nominees 2026

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