The most prominent figures from sports and entertainment gathered on Thursday night to celebrate the year’s outstanding, influential, and inspirational athletes at the 2024 ESPY Awards.
Held once again at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, the event saw stars like Olympian Simone Biles, basketball standouts Jaylen Brown and Caitlin Clark, tennis ace Coco Gauff, Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes, and MLB sensation Shohei Ohtani among the top nominees.
The ceremony also recognized special individuals with the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, and The Pat Tillman Award for Service. Former NFL player Steve Gleason received the Arthur Ashe Award for his advocacy on ALS awareness, University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley was honored with the Jimmy V Award, and Prince Harry was recognized with the Pat Tillman Award for his efforts supporting military veterans through the Invictus Games.
Here are the main recipients of the evening’s top honors:-
BEST ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs — **WINNER!
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels / Los Angeles Dodgers
Scottie Scheffler, Golf
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS
Caitlin Clark, Iowa Women’s Basketball
Coco Gauff, Tennis
Nelly Korda, Golf
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces — **WINNER!
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE
Haleigh Bryant, LSU Gymnastics
C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
Juju Watkins, USC Women’s Basketball — **WINNER!
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
BEST RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE
49ers Christian McCaffrey scores a TD for a record breaking 17 straight games
Caitlin Clark becomes NCAA’s All Time Scoring Leader breaking Pete Maravich’s Record — **WINNER!
Tara VanDerveer, Stanford Women’s Basketball – gets 1,203rd win to pass Coach K for most by any coach in NCAA basketball history
Max Verstappen wins record 10th consecutive race with victory at Italian Grand Prix
BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE
Michigan’s Blake Corum and Will Johnson, 2024 College Football National Championship MVPs
Kayla Martello, Boston College Women’s Lacrosse
Midge Purce, NJ/NY Gotham FC – NWSL Championship MVP
Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics — **WINNER!
BEST COMEBACK ATHLETE
Simone Biles, Gymnast — **WINNER!
Paige Bueckers, University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball
Joe Flacco, Cleveland Browns
Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
BEST PLAY
Jayda Coleman calls GAME sending Oklahoma to their 4th Straight Championship – NCAA Softball 6/4/2024
Anthony Edwards Dunk of the Year – 3/18/24 – NBA
Alabama scores on 4th & 31 to win vs. Auburn 11/25/23
Lamar Jackson Caught His Own Pass & Ran With it – 1/28/24 – NFL — **WINNER!
BEST TEAM
South Carolina Gamecocks, NCAA Women’s Basketball — **WINNER!
Kansas City Chiefs, NFL
Michigan Wolverines, NCAA Football
Las Vegas Aces, WNBA
University of Connecticut Huskies, NCAA Men’s Basketball
Oklahoma Sooners, NCAA Softball
Boston Celtics, NBA
Florida Panthers, NHL
Texas Rangers, MLB
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS
Jayden Daniels, LSU Football — **WINNER!
Zach Edey, Purdue Men’s Basketball
Ousmane Sylla, Clemson Soccer
Pat Kavanagh, Notre Dame Lacrosse
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS
Haleigh Bryant, LSU Gymnastics
Caitlin Clark, Iowa Basketball — **WINNER!
Sarah Franklin, Wisconsin Volleyball
Izzy Scane, Northwestern Lacrosse
BEST ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY
Jaydin Blackwell World Champion Sprinter
Ezra Frech, World Champion High Jumper
Brenna Huckaby Snowboarding Champion — **WINNER!
Oksana Masters, Cross-Country Skier/Hand Cyclist
BEST NFL PLAYER
Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs — **WINNER!
Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers
BEST MLB PLAYER
Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves
Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels — **WINNER!
Corey Seager, Texas Rangers
BEST NHL PLAYER
Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers — **WINNER!
BEST NBA PLAYER
Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks — **WINNER!
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
BEST WNBA PLAYER
Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty
Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces — **WINNER!
BEST DRIVER
Ryan Blaney, NASCAR
Matt Hagan, NHRA
Álex Palou, IndyCar
Max Verstappen, F1 — **WINNER!
BEST UFC FIGHTER
Islam Makhachev
Sean O’Malley — **WINNER!
Alex Pereira
Zhang Weili
BEST BOXER
Terence Crawford — **WINNER!
Seniesa Estrada
Naoya Inoue
Oleksandr Usyk
BEST SOCCER PLAYER
Aitana Bonmatí, Spain
Naomi Girma, USWNT
Vinicius Junior, Brazil/Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappé, France/Real Madrid — **WINNER!
BEST GOLFER
Nelly Korda
Xander Schauffele
Scottie Scheffler — **WINNER!
Lilia Vu
BEST TENNIS PLAYER
Carlos Alcaraz
Novak Djokovic
Coco Gauff — **WINNER!
Iga Swiatek
