One month after The New York Knicks won the 2026 NBA Finals, ending a 53-year championship drought for the franchise, the team and its star players took a victory lap by sweeping the 2026 ESPY Awards. The show, fittingly, was held in New York for the first time in five years, this time at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. The 2026 ESPYS aired live on the East Coast on Wednesday (July 15) at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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The Knicks won the ESPY for best team; Jalen Brunson won best athlete, men’s sports; best championship performance; and best NBA player; and teammate OG Anunoby’s tip-in in the NBA finals won for best play.
Other multiple winners were A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, who won best athlete, women’s sports and best WNBA player; Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won best single-game performance and best MLB player; and Myles Garrett, who was traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Los Angeles Rams on June 1. Neither Wilson nor Ohtani was present at the show.
SNL star Marcello Hernández proved to be a charismatic and effective host. He was introduced as the show’s first Latino host in 25 years. (That would be since actor Jimmy Smits hosted the 2000 show.)
The Savannah Bananas opened the show with an entertaining variety performance. Hip-hop stars De La Soul, Ghostface Killah and Slick Rick did very abbreviated sets. The ESPYS spends its time on special awards and taped packages, often with a strong emotional pull.
Trailblazing former NBA player Jason Collins was posthumously honored with the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage; baseball legend Jim Abbott received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance; and Scott Ruskan received the Pat Tillman Award for Service.
Presenters include both sports legends (Billie Jean King and Mike Tyson) and entertainment and media figures (Kevin Hart, DJ Khaled, Tracy Morgan and Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts). Will Ferrell and mentalist Oz Pearlman provided entertainment.
Here’s the complete list of 2026 ESPYS nominations, with winners marked.
Best athlete, men’s sports
WINNER: 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
WINNER: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
Best breakthrough athlete
Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks
WINNER: Alysa Liu, figure skating
Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Football
Best record-breaking performance
WINNER: 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 less than two hours
Best championship performance
WINNER: 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
WINNER: 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
WINNER: OG Anunoby’s Tip-In (New York Knicks) — 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
WINNER: 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
WINNER: Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Football
Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State Wrestling
Donavan Phillip, NC State Soccer
Best college athlete, women’s sports
Olivia Babcock, Pittsburgh Volleyball
WINNER: Lauren Betts, UCLA Basketball
Madison Taylor, Northwestern Lacrosse
Faith Torrez, Oklahoma Gymnastics
Best athlete with a disability
Jake Adicoff, Paralympic Nordic-Skiing
WINNER: Declan Farmer, Paralympic Hockey
Oksana Masters, Paralympic Cross-Country Skiing
Susannah Scaroni, Wheelchair Racing
Best NFL player
WINNER: Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns/Los Angeles Rams
Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Best MLB player
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
WINNER: 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
WINNER: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Best NBA player
WINNER: 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
WINNER: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
Best driver
Kimi Antonelli, F1
WINNER: Lando Norris, F1
Alex Palou, IndyCar
Tyler Reddick, NASCAR
Best fighter
WINNER: Terence Crawford, boxing
Gabriela Fundora, boxing
Justin Gaethje, MMA
Claressa Shields, boxing
Best soccer player
Temwa Chawinga, KC Current
Ousmane Dembélé, PSG/France
WINNER: Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF
Alexia Putellas, Spain/Barcelona
Best golfer
Nelly Korda
Rory McIlroy
WINNER: Scottie Scheffler
Jeeno Thitikul
Best tennis player
WINNER: Carlos Alcaraz
Elena Rybakina
Aryna Sabalenka
Jannik Sinner
Other Winners
Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors, and his wife, Ayesha Curry
Jimmy V Award for Perseverance: Jim Abbott
Pat Tillman Award for Service: Scott Ruskan, U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer
Gatorade Players of the Year: Maddie DiMaria and Grady Emerson
Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award: Kelis Armstrong, Julia Howe and Samuel Phillips
Arthur Ashe Courage Award: Jason Collins