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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.
Related Alicia Keys to Perform Empire State of Mind at New York Knicks Championship Parade Billie Eilish Watches New York Knicks Game 5 Courtside With Jennifer Hudson & Common Shohei Ohtani Drops New Collab With New Balance: Heres How to Shop the Collection Online The Knicks won the ESPY for best team; Jalen Brunson won best athlete, mens sports; best championship performance; and best NBA player; and teammate OG Anunobys tip-in in the NBA finals won for best play.
Other multiple winners were Aja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, who won best athlete, womens 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 Hernandez proved to be a charismatic and effective host.
He was introduced as the shows 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.
Heres the complete list of 2026 ESPYS nominations, with winners marked.
Best athlete, mens sports WINNER: Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams Best athlete, womens sports Hilary Knight, hockey Nelly Korda, golf Mikaela Shiffrin, ski WINNER: Aja 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 Hsflot Klbo, 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 Womens Hockey Connor Hellebuyck, USA Mens 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 Womens Hockey Golden Goal for Gold! Olympic Mens Hockey UConn stuns Duke with Braylon Mullins buzzer-beating 3 NCAA Mens March Madness WINNER: OG Anunobys 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 Mens Hockey Team USA Womens 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, mens sports Cameron Boozer, Duke Basketball WINNER: Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Football Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State Wrestling Donavan Phillip, NC State Soccer Best college athlete, womens 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: Aja 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 Dembele, 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.