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June 26, 2025 6:37am
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Caitlin Clark
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
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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.”
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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
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
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