ESPY Award nominees 2025: Complete list of players, teams for all of the ESPYs voting categories

It's that time of the year when the ESPYs take center stage.

Athletes, celebrities, and more are all set to gather together in Los Angeles as ESPN celebrates the best sports accomplishments in the past year. This year's installment includes accomplishments from the 2024 Summer Olympics, which saw many of the world's greatest athletes produce incredible moments.

The Dodgers, Eagles, and Thunder are all featured prominently across the list of ESPY nominees, along with many Olympic athletes. The totality of this year's ESPY nominees, however, include champions and legends from all over the sports world.

Here's a list of all the teams, athletes, and coaches up for an ESPY award in 2025.

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ESPY Award nominees 2025

Best athlete, men's sports

• Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles
• Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
• Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers

Best athlete, women's sports

• Gabby Thomas, Track and field
• Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Track and field
• A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
• Simone Biles, Gymnastics

Best breakthrough athlete

• Chloe Humphrey, UNC lacrosse
• Cooper Flagg, Duke men's basketball
• Ilona Maher, Team USA rugby
• Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates

Best record-breaking performance

• Alex Ovechkin becomes the NHL's all-time leading goal-scorer
• Kevin Durant becomes Team USA basketball's all-time leading Olympic scorer
• Caitlin Clark breaks the WNBA records for single-game assists and single-season assists
• Geno Auriemma becomes NCAA basketball's all-time wins leader

Best championship performance

• Rory McIlroy wins the Masters to become golf's sixth-ever Grand Slam champion
• Freddie Freeman fits walk-off grand slam in the World Series, wins World Series MVP
• Stephen Curry scores 24 points in men's basketball Olympics gold medal game
• Simone Biles becomes third woman to win second individual all-around gold medal at the Olympics

Best comeback athlete

• Mallory Swanson, Chicago Stars FC/USWNT
• Suni Lee, Gymnastics
• Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche
• Lindsey Vonn, Skiing

Best play

• Tyrese Haliburton hits buzzer-beater in Game 1 of the NBA Finals
• Saquon Barkley backwards hurdle vs. the Jaguars
• Sabrino Ionescu clinches WNBA Finals Game 3 with a three-pointer
• Trinity Rodman scores game-winning OT goal in Olympic quarterfinals

Best team

• UConn, NCAA women's basketball
• USWNT
• UNC, NCAA women's lacrosse
• Philadelphia Eagles, NFL
• Ohio State, NCAA football
• New York Liberty, WNBA
• Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB
• Florida Panthers, NHL
• Oklahoma City Thunder, NBA

Best college athlete, men's sports

• C.J. Kirst, Cornell lacrosse
• Wyatt Hendrickson, Oklahoma State wrestling
• Travis Hunter, Colorado football
• Cooper Flagg, Duke basketball

Best college athlete, women's sports

• Gretchen Walsh, Virginia swimming
• Kate Faase, UNC soccer
• Olivia Babcock, Pittsburgh volleyball
• JuJu Watkins, USC basketball

Best athlete with a disability

• Grace Norman, Triathlon
• Tatyana McFadden, Track and field
• Noah Elliott, Snowboarding
• Ezra French, Track and field

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

• Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
• Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
• Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
• Conner Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets

Best NBA player

• Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
• Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
• Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

Best WNBA player

• A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
• Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty
• Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
• Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever

Best driver

• Joey Logano, NASCAR
• Oscar Piastri, F1
• Max Verstappen, F1
• Alex Palou, IndyCar

Best UFC fighter

• Dricus du Plessis
• Merab Dvalishvili
• Kayla Harrison
• Islam Makhachev

Best boxer

• Claressa Shields
• Oleksandr Usyk
• Katie Taylor
• Naoya Inoue

Best soccer player

• Alexia Putellas, FC Barcelona/Spain
• Lamine Yamal, FC Barcelona/Spain
• Aitana Bonmati, FC Barcelona/Spain
• Christian Pulisic, AC Milan/USMNT

Best golfer

• Maja Stark
• Rory McIlroy
• Scottie Scheffler
• Nelly Korda

Best tennis player

• Coco Gauff
• Aryna Sabalenka
• Carlos Alcaraz
• Jannik Sinner