Jalen Brunson, Lionel Messi & More Score ESPYS 2026 Nominations

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Athletes are gearing up for the biggest night in sports.

And no, we’re not talking about the Super Bowl or the release of Heated Rivalry season two. The nominations for the ESPY Awards—being held on July 15 with comedian Marcello Hernández booked to host from Lincoln Center in New York City—have been released, with athletes across college and professional sports being recognized for their efforts.

What makes this year’s ESPYs particularly exciting is that the performances from the 2026 Winter Olympic Games are eligible, with the U.S. men and women’s hockey teams both in the running for best play and best team for their gold-medal winning games.

Norwegian Cross-country skier Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is also nominated for Best Record-Breaking Performance for being the first athlete to win six gold medals in a single Olympic Winter Games while figure skater Alysa Liu has been nominated for Best Breakthrough Athlete.

Among those nominated for Best Athlete in men and women’s sports are basketball stars A’ja Wilson and Jalen Brunson—captain of the NBA Championship-winning New York Knicks—soccer player Lionel Messi, MLB pitcher Shohei Ohtani, reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford, women’s hockey captain Hilary Knight and golf pro Nelly Korda.

In addition to Brunson’s Best Athlete nod, he’s also been nominated for Best Championship Performance (after all, he did score a whopping 45 points in the Knicks’ final game against the San Antonio Spurs). His teammate OG Anunoby was also recognized or his championship performance with his critical tip-in nominated for Best Play.

Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

As for some of the athletes nominated as the top players in their sport or leagues, Myles Garrett and Drake Maye have been nominated from the NFL, Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh from the MLB, Napheesa Collier and Alyssa Thomas from the WNBA, Carlos Alcaraz and Elena Rybakina for tennis as well as Macklin Celebrini and Nathan MacKinnon from the NHL.

Brunson has been nominated for best NBA player, as has his championship rival Victor Wembanyama, who plays for the San Antonio Spurs. Joining them are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic.

But there are many more where they came from; for the complete list of 2026 ESPY Award nominees—including the collegiate athletes that earned nods—read on.

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

Maja Hitij - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

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

Andy Cheung/Getty Images

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