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.

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