The 2022 ESPYS: Complete List of Nominees

By Brian Jones

We are getting closer to July, which means The 2022 ESPYS are just around the corner. On July 20, ESPN will honor the best in sports from the past year with the 2022 ESPY Awards. The awards show will air on ABC at 8 p.m. ET in Los Angeles, and fans can start voting for all categories. 

ESPN has yet to announce the exact location and host of the awards show, but with it being in Los Angeles, it's likely it will be back at the Microfost Theatre. The ESPYS was at the venue from 2008 to 2019 and was held virtually in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, The ESPYS was held at The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York, and Antony Mackie was the host. 

Some of the notable awards being presented are Best Athlete, Men's Sports; Best Athlete, Women's Sports and Best Team. There will also be three pillar awards —  the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage which will be presented to Vitali Klitschko, the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance which will be presented to Dick Vitale, and The Pat Tillman Award for Service presented by MassMutual which will be presented to Gretchen Evans this year. Here's a look at the rest of the nominees. 

Best Players Part 1

BEST ATHLETE, MEN'S SPORTS

· Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

· Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

· Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels

· Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN'S SPORTS

· Oksana Masters, Cross Country Skiing, Road Cycling, Biathlon

· Sunisa Lee, Gymnastics

· Katie Ledecky, Swimming

· Candace Parker, Chicago Sky

BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE

· Trinity Rodman, Washington Spirit

· Eileen Gu, Skier

· Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts

· Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies

BEST RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE

· Stephen Curry passes Ray Allen for most 3-pointers made in NBA history

· Jocelyn Alo breaks Lauren Chamberlain's home run record for most in Division I history (96)

· Allyson Felix, Track & Field won her 11th career medal surpassing Carl Lewis for the United States track and field record

· Tom Brady becomes the NFL all-time passing yards leader overtaking Drew Brees

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE

· Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams – Super Bowl LVI

· Julianna Peña, UFC 269

· Max Verstappen, F1 – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

· Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche – Stanley Cup Finals

BEST COMEBACK ATHLETE

· Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors

· Trey Mancini, Baltimore Orioles

· Diamond DeShields, Phoenix Mercury

Teams and Games

BEST PLAY

1. Unbelievable Corner Kick Goal by Megan Rapinoe

2. Justin Tucker 66-yard NFL record field goal

3. Ja Morant's POSTER

4. Hansel Enmanuel with the play of the year

BEST TEAM

· Golden State Warriors, NBA

· Chicago Sky, WNBA

· Atlanta Braves, MLB

· Los Angeles Rams, NFL

· Oklahoma Sooners, NCAA Softball

· Georgia Bulldogs, NCAA Football

· Colorado Avalanche, NHL

BEST OLYMPIAN, WOMEN'S SPORTS

· Sunisa Lee, Gymnastics

· Oksana Masters, Cross Country Skiing, Road Cycling, Biathlon

· Katie Ledecky, Swimming

· Allyson Felix, Track & Field

BEST OLYMPIAN, MEN'S SPORTS

· Nathan Chen, Figure Skating

· Declan Farmer, Sled Hockey

· Nick Mayhugh, Track & Field

· Caeleb Dressel, Swimming

BEST GAME

· Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Buffalo Bills in an OT thriller (AFC Divisional Game)

· UConn defeats NC State in double OT (Elite 8 NCAA Women's Basketball)

· Kansas' 16-point rally, which was the biggest comeback in championship game history (NCAA Men's Basketball Championship)

· Bryce Young rallies Alabama to beat Auburn in four OTs (NCAA Football Iron Bowl)

Best Players Part 2

BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, MEN'S SPORTS

· Bryce Young, Alabama Football

· Dante Polvara, Georgetown Men's Soccer

· Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga Men's Basketball

· Logan Wisnauskas, Maryland Lacrosse

BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, WOMEN'S SPORTS

· Aliyah Boston, South Carolina Women's Basketball

· Jaelin Howell, Florida State Soccer

· Jocelyn Alo, Oklahoma Softball

· Charlotte North, Boston College Lacrosse

BEST INTERNATIONAL ATHLETE, MEN'S SOCCER

· Karim Benzema, Real Madrid

· Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City

· Sadio Mané, Liverpool

· Kylian Mbappé, PSG

BEST INTERNATIONAL ATHLETE, WOMEN'S SOCCER

· Alexia Putellas, Barcelona

· Sam Kerr, Chelsea

· Vivianne Miedema, Arsenal

· Caroline Graham Hansen, Barcelona

BEST NFL PLAYER

· Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams

· T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers

· Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

· Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts

BEST MLB PLAYER

· Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels

· Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies

· Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

· Jorge Soler, Atlanta Braves

BEST NHL PLAYER

· Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

· Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

· Roman Josi, Nashville Predators

· Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers

Best Players Part 3

BEST DRIVER

· Kyle Larson, NASCAR

· Max Verstappen, F1

· Steve Torrence, NHRA

· Álex Palou, IndyCar

BEST NBA PLAYER

· Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

· Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

· Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks

· Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

BEST WNBA PLAYER

· Jonquel Jones, Connecticut Sun

· Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota Lynx

· Skylar Diggins-Smith, Phoenix Mercury

· Candace Parker, Chicago Sky

BEST BOXER

· Tyson Fury

· Shakur Stevenson

· Katie Taylor

· Mikaela Mayer

BEST MMA FIGHTER

· Alexander Volkanovski

· Charles Oliveira

· Kamaru Usman

· Kayla Harrison

BEST ATHLETE, MEN'S GOLF

· Scottie Scheffler

· Cameron Smith

· Justin Thomas

· Jon Rahm

BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN'S GOLF

· Nelly Korda

· Ko Jin-young

· Lydia Ko

· Minjee Lee

BEST ATHLETE, MEN'S TENNIS

· Rafael Nadal

· Dylan Alcott

· Carlos Alcaraz

· Felix Auger-Aliassime

BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN'S TENNIS

· Emma Raducanu

· Ashleigh Barty

· Iga Świątek

· Leylah Fernandez

BEST ATHLETE, MEN'S ACTION SPORTS

· Eli Tomac, Supercross

· Alex Hall, Ski

· Yuto Horigome, Skateboard

· Ayumu Hirano, Snowboard

BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN'S ACTION SPORTS

· Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, Snowboard

· Eileen Gu, Ski

· Rayssa Leal, Skateboard

· Chloe Kim, Snowboard

Jockey and Athletes with Disabilities

BEST JOCKEY

· Flavien Prat

· Irad Ortiz

· Jose Ortiz

· Joel Rosario

BEST ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY, MEN'S SPORTS

· Declan Farmer, Sled Hockey

· Nick Mayhugh, Track & Field

· Brad Snyder, Paratriathlon & Swimming

· Ian Seidenfeld, Table Tennis

BEST ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY, WOMEN'S SPORTS

· Oksana Masters, Cycling & Nordic/Biathlon

· Jessica Long, Swimming

· Brenna Huckaby, Snowboarding

· Kate Ward, Soccer

Bowling and Soccer

BEST BOWLER

· Jason Belmonte

· Anthony Simonsen

· Kyle Troup

· Dom Barrett

BEST MLS PLAYER

· Valentin Castellanos, NYCFC

· Jesús Ferreira, FC Dallas

· Carles Gil, New England Revolution

· Carlos Vela, LAFC

BEST NWSL PLAYER

· Ashley Hatch, Washington Spirit

· Aubrey Bledsoe, Washington Spirit

· Jess Fishlock, OL Reign

· Caprice Dydasco, NJ/NY Gotham FC

WWE

BEST WWE MOMENT

MATCH 1

· Brock Lesnar wins Royal Rumble

· Bianca Belair wins RAW Women's Championship at WrestleMania

MATCH 2

· John Cena returns at Money In The Bank

· Ronda Rousey returns 4 months after giving birth to win Royal Rumble

MATCH 3

· WWE welcomes back fans with full live crowd (Smackdown 7/16)

· Stone Cold stuns Vince McMahon, Austin Theory, and Pat McAfee on WrestleMania Night 2

MATCH 4

· Roman Reigns defeats Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania to win both the Universal & WWE Championship

· Cody Rhodes returns to WWE at WrestleMania

MATCH 5

· Big E cashes in Money In The Bank briefcase and wins WWE Championship (RAW 9/13)

· The Miz turns on Logan Paul at WrestleMania

MATCH 6

· Becky Lynch returns at SummerSlam

· Undertaker inducted into WWE Hall Of Fame

MATCH 7

· Edge defeats Seth Rollins in a Hell In A Cell match at Crown Jewel

· Wee man body slams Sami Zayn at WrestleMania MATCH 8

· Brock Lesnar returns at SummerSlam to confront Roman Reigns

· Stone Cold returns to the ring to defeat Kevin Owens at WrestleMania

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