See this year's ESPY nominees, which has plenty of Florida flavor

[ASFN Admin]

The Oscars are here… for sports.

July 15 will mark the return of the annual ESPYs, the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly awards. Produced by ESPN since 1993, the ESPYs recognize individual and tea, accomplishments throughout the year.

This year’s host is "Saturday Night Live" cast member Marcello Hernandez. After many years in Los Angeles, this is the first time the show will be held in New York City since 1999.


From "Knicks in 5" to a pair of Golden Goals in the Olympics, there have been many memorable moments in major sports over the last 12 months. And now, fans can vote for their top achievers and achievements across the athletic landscape.

How can I vote for the ESPYs?​

Voting for the ESPYs has already been opened through ESPN. Voting will close the night of the ceremony, July 15.

When is the ESPYs awards show?​

The 2026 Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award (ESPYs) will be at 8 p.m. July 15, 2026, on ABC. The show will be aired from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.

Notable Florida nominees​

With a total of 32 athletes nominated for these awards, Florida can claim five athletes:

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Lionel Messi​

Messi, the star of the MLS team Inter Miami, is considered one of the best soccer players ever. While in Miami he has earned the MLS MVP, MLS Golden Boot 2025, Ballon d'Or 2023 and Time's Athlete of the Year in 2023. While those are purely individual accomplishments, Messi had led Inter Miami to Leagues Cup in 2023, Supporters' Shield in 2024 and MLS Cup in 2025.

Nikita Kucherov​

Kucherov plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning and has led the team to two Stanley Cups. He has also earned the Hart Memorial Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award, Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy Runner-up, and multiple NHL All-Star selections.

Nelly Korda​

Born and raised in Bradenton, Florida, Korda is the No. 1 ranked women's golfer in the world. She has 20 professional wins, including two major championships, an Olympic gold medal from the 2020 Summer Olympics, and has held the top spot in the world rankings for over 100 weeks.

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Cameron Boozer​

Boozer played high school basketball at Christopher Columbus High School in Florida. He received many awards including the Gatorade National Player of the Year twice, Florida Mr. Basketball and Mr. Basketball USA. He also earned many MVPs for different organizations. He was the consensus national player of the year in college basketball in 2026 and was the No. 3 pick in this year's NBA draft.

Bam Adebayo​

Adebayo, the star center of the Miami Heat, is a three-time NBA All-Star, five-time NBA All-Defensive team honoree and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. Earlier this year, he scored 83 points against the Washington Wizards, surpassing Kobe Bryant's 81 points for the second-most points scored ever in an NBA game.

Full nominee list​

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

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

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

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: See this year's ESPY nominees, which has plenty of Florida flavor

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