NFL stars Josh Allen and Saquon Barkley, WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark, Coco Gauff, Simone Biles, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Ilona Maher and Alexander Ovechkin are among the top nominees for the 2025 ESPY Awards, announced Thursday.
The winners will be announced on Wednesday July 16, with the ceremony set to be hosted by comedian Shane Gillis live from The Dolby Theater in Los Angeles at 8 p.m., airing live on ABC and streaming on ESPN+.
Te show will see celebrities from the worls of sports and entertainment hand out awards in categories like “Best Athlete – Men’s Sports,” “Best Athlete – Women’s Sports,” “Best Breakthrough Athlete,” “Best Record Breaking Performance,” “Best Championship Performance” and “Best Comeback Athlete.”
Allen, Barkley and Gilgeous-Alexander will face off in the men’s sports category, with Shohei Ohtani rounding out the nominees list. Biles is nominated in the women’s category, Ilona Maher in the breakthrough category and Ovechkin and Clark in the record breaking performance category.
You can see the full list of categories and nominees, below.
BEST ATHLETE – MEN’S SPORTS
- Josh Allen – Buffalo Bills
- Saquon Barkley – Philadelphia Eagles
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Oklahoma City Thunder
- Shohei Ohtani – Los Angeles Dodgers
BEST ATHLETE – WOMEN’S SPORTS
- Simone Biles – Gymnast
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone – Track & Field
- Gabby Thomas – Track & Field
- A’ja Wilson – Las Vegas Aces
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE
- Cooper Flagg – Duke Men’s Basketball
- Chloe Humphrey – North Carolina Women’s Lacrosse
- Ilona Maher – Rugby
- Paul Skenes – Pittsburgh Pirates
BEST RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE
- Geno Auriemma – UConn Huskies
- Caitlin Clark – Indiana Fever
- Kevin Durant – Olympic Basketball
- Alexander Ovechkin – Washington Capitals
BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE
- Simone Biles – 2024 Olympics Women’s All-Around
- Stephen Curry – US Men’s Olympic BB team
- Freddie Freeman – LA Dodgers – World Series MVP
- Rory McIlroy – Wins first Masters title, completing career Grand Slam
BEST COMEBACK ATHLETE
- Gabe Landeskog – Colorado Avalanche
- Suni Lee – Gymnast
- Mallory Swanson – USWNT/Chicago Red Stars
- Lindsey Vonn – Skiing
BEST PLAY
- Saquon Barkley’s backwards hurdle – NFL (11/3/24)
- Tyrese Haliburton Calls Game!!! – NBA Game 1 NBA Finals (6/5/25)
- Sabrina Ionescu Logo 3 Game Winner – WNBA Finals Game 3
- Trinity Rodman with the OT Goal to send USWNT to the semi-finals – 2024 Olympics
BEST TEAM
- Florida Panthers – NHL
- Los Angeles Dodgers – MLB
- New York Liberty – WNBA
- Ohio State Buckeyes – NCAA Football
- Oklahoma City Thunder – NBA
- Philadelphia Eagles – NFL
- North Carolina Tar Heels – NCAA Women’s Lacrosse
- United States Women’s National Team – Soccer
- University of Connecticut Huskies – Women’s Basketball
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE – MEN’S SPORTS
- Cooper Flagg – Duke Basketball
- Wyatt Hendrickson – Oklahoma State Wrestling
- Travis Hunter – Colorado Football
- CJ Kirst – Cornell Lacrosse
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE – WOMEN’S SPORTS
- Olivia Babcock – University of Pittsburgh Volleyball
- Kate Faasse – North Carolina Soccer
- Gretchen Walsh – Virginia Swimming
- JuJu Watkins – USC Basketball
BEST ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY
- Noah Elliott – Snowboard
- Ezra Frech – Track & Field
- Tatyana McFadden – Track & Field
- Grace Norman – Paratriathlete
BEST NFL PLAYER
- Josh Allen – Buffalo Bills
- Saquon Barkley – Philadelphia Eagles
- Lamar Jackson – Baltimore Ravens
- Patrick Surtain II – Denver Broncos
BEST MLB PLAYER
- Freddie Freeman – Los Angeles Dodgers
- Aaron Judge – New York Yankees
- Shohei Ohtani – Los Angeles Dodgers
- Tarik Skubal – Detroit Tigers
BEST NHL PLAYER
- Leon Draisaitl – Edmonton Oilers,
- Connor Hellebuyck – Winnipeg Jets
- Nikita Kucherov – Tampa Bay Lightning
- Cale Makar – Colorado Avalanche
BEST NBA PLAYER
- Giannis Antetokounmpo – Milwaukee Bucks
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Oklahoma City Thunder
- Nikola Jokić – Denver Nuggets
- Jayson Tatum – Boston Celtics
BEST WNBA PLAYER
- Caitlin Clark – Indiana Fever
- Napheesa Collier – Minnesota Lynx
- Breanna Stewart – New York Liberty
- A’ja Wilson – Las Vegas Aces
BEST DRIVER
- Joey Logano – NASCAR
- Álex Palou – IndyCar
- Oscar Piastri – F1
- Max Verstappen – F1
BEST UFC FIGHTER
- Dricus Du Plessis
- Merab Dvalishvili
- Kayla Harrison
- Islam Makhachev
BEST BOXER
- Naoya Inoue
- Claressa Shields
- Katie Taylor
- Oleksandr Usyk
BEST SOCCER PLAYER
- Aitana Bonmatí – FC Barcelona/Spain
- Christian Pulisic – AC Milan, US
- Alexia Putellas FC Barcelona/Spain
- Lamine Yamal – FC Barcelona/Spain
BEST GOLFER
- Nelly Korda
- Rory Mcllroy
- Scottie Scheffler
- Maja Stark
BEST TENNIS PLAYER
- Carlos Alcaraz
- Coco Gauff
- Aryna Sabalenka
- Jannik Sinner