Jalen Brunson, Lionel Messi & Alysa Liu Lead 2026 ESPYS Nominations: Full List

The 2026 ESPYS are returning to New York City. Ahead of the award show slated for July 15, the ESPYS nominations were revealed in full on Thursday (June 25).

This year’s award show will be hosted by Marcello Hernández, and fan voting is now open. The David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in Manhattan is slated to host the event, with the 2026 ESPYS set to air live on July 15 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

In the best athlete category for men’s sports, New York Knicks champion and superstar guard Jalen Brunson is among the nominees, alongside soccer deity Lionel Messi, L.A. Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.

As for the best athletes in women’s sports category goes, the nominees include Team USA hockey’s Hilary Knight, golfer Nelly Korda, skiier Mikaela Shiffrin and WNBA star A’ja Wilson.

The 2026 ESPYS will introduce three new social categories, which include best tunnel fit — honoring the top outfits of the year — as well as best celebration and best sports card. Nominees and voting details for the trio of new categories will be announced in the coming weeks.

Jason Collins, who became the first active openly gay player in the NBA, passed away in May at 47 years old. He will posthumously receive the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage.

Former MLB pitcher Jim Abbott is set to receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, while Camp Mystic rescuer Scott Ruskan will be honored with the Pat Tillman Award for Service.

Find all of the 2026 ESPYS nominations below.

Here Are the 2026 ESPYS Nominations:

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 less than 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 comback 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