ESPY Awards: LeBron James, Patrick Mahomes, Mikaela Shiffrin Among 2023 Nominees

LeBron James, Patrick Mahomes and Mikaela Shiffrin are among the nominees for the 2023 ESPY Awards, which recognize the best of the year in sports.

James and Shiffrin are both nominated for best record-breaking performance, with Los Angeles Lakers star James cited for passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA career scoring record and alpine skier Shiffrin nominated for breaking the record for the most World Cup victories with her 87th win.

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Shiffrin also is nominated for best athlete, women’s sports, marking her third career nom in the category.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Mahomes, who led his team to a Super Bowl victory this year, is up for best NFL player and best athlete, men’s sports.

Elsewhere, Candace Parker landed her sixth consecutive nomination for best WNBA player. Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets, the lowest-drafted player (41st overall in the second round in 2014) to win the NBA Finals MVP, landed three ESPY nominations: best athlete, men’s sports; best NBA player; and best championship performance.

As in years past, the 2023 ESPYS will also spotlight “the achievements of inspiring and courageous athletes who embody the spirit of the ESPYS” through three pillar awards — the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance and the Pat Tillman Award for Service presented by MassMutual. Honorees for all three awards will be announced next week. The show supports ESPN’s ongoing commitment to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, launched in 1993 by ESPN in partnership with the late Jim Valvano.

Winners of the ESPY Awards are voted on by fans, who can make their picks at ESPN.com/ESPYS through July 9. The ceremony will air live on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/PT on July 12 from Los Angeles.

A full list of nominees follows.

BEST ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS

Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Lionel Messi, Argentina

BEST ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS

Mikaela Shiffrin, Ski
Sophia Smith, Portland Thorns
Iga Świątek, Tennis
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces

BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE

Caitlin Clark, Iowa Women’s Basketball
Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
Angel Reese, LSU Women’s Basketball
Julio Rodríguez, Seattle Mariners

BEST RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE

Novak Djokovic wins his 23rd Grand Slam title, defeating Casper Ruud in the French Open final. Breaking a tie with rival Rafael Nadal for the most major singles trophies in the history of men’s tennis, which dates to the 1800s
LeBron James surpasses Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for NBA career scoring record
Mikaela Shiffrin breaks the record for the most World Cup victories with her 87th win
Max Verstappen, Red Bull, wins the Mexican Grand Prix, breaking the record for most wins in a season

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE

Leon Edwards, UFC — defeats Kamaru Usman by 5th-round KO to win UFC welterweight title, handing Usman his first UFC loss
Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets — 2023 NBA Finals MVP
Lionel Messi, Argentina — 2022 World Cup Final – Messi scored 2 goals and scored in the penalty shootout to win Man of the Match and he won the Golden Ball as FIFA’s best player of the tournament
Rose Zhang, LPGA — defeated Jennifer Kupcho in a two-hole sudden death playoff, making history by winning by becoming the first woman in 72 years to win her first professional start.

BEST COMEBACK ATHLETE

Jon Jones, UFC — Jones’ first fight in the UFC since 2020. He was last seen in action against Dominick Reyes, where he defended his light-heavyweight championship at UFC 247. While Jon Jones was plotting a move to the heavyweight division, he and the UFC president did not see eye-to-eye over fighter pay. Jones felt that he needed to be paid more for a move up to the heavyweight division, which resulted in him delaying his return.
Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets — Murray missed the entirety of last season due to a torn ACL in his left knee. He suffered the injury in a game against the Golden State Warriors on April 12, 2021, and didn’t play in the 18 months since then.
Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun — 2022 WNBA Comeback Player of the Year. Thomas missed all but six games last season while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. The eight-year veteran has started all 36 of Connecticut’s games in 2022, and was an All- Star earlier this season. She leads the team in assists (6.1), steals (1.7) and minutes played (32.1).
Justin Verlander, Current New York Mets / Houston Astros — 2022 NL Comeback Player of the Year, after being limited to only six innings in 2020 and missing the entire ’21 season due to Tommy John surgery, the Astros’ ace returned this season to go 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA — the lowest by any AL pitcher since Pedro Martinez posted a 1.74 ERA in 2000.

BEST PLAY

Michael Block Hole-in-One! – GOLF
Justin Jefferson with the Catch of the Century NFL
Ally Lemos with the perfect corner to tie the National Championship game NCAA
Trinity Thomas Perfect 10 Tying the All-Time NCAA Record – NCAA

BEST TEAM

Denver Nuggets, NBA
Georgia Bulldogs, NCAA Football
Kansas City Chiefs, NFL
Las Vegas Aces, WNBA
Louisiana State Tigers, NCAA Women’s Basketball
Oklahoma Sooners, NCAA Softball
Vegas Golden Knights, NHL

BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, MEN’S SPORTS

Zach Edey, Purdue Basketball
Duncan McGuire, Creighton Soccer
Brennan O’Neill, Duke Lacrosse
Caleb Williams, USC Football

BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE, WOMEN’S SPORTS

Jordy Bahl, Oklahoma Softball
Caitlin Clark, Iowa Women’s Basketball
Izzy Scane, Northwestern Lacrosse
Trinity Thomas, Florida Gators Gymnastics

BEST ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY

Erica McKee, Sled Hockey Team
Zach Miller, Snowboarding
Aaron Pike, Wheelchair Racing & Cross-Country Skiing
Susannah Scaroni, Wheelchair Racing

BEST NFL PLAYER

Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers
Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

BEST MLB PLAYER

Paul Goldschmidt, St. Louis Cardinals
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels
Justin Verlander, Houston Astros

BEST NHL PLAYER

Jonathan Marchessault, Vegas Golden Knights
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
David Pastrňák, Boston Bruins
Linus Ullmark, Boston Bruins

BEST NBA PLAYER

Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

BEST WNBA PLAYER

Skylar Diggins-Smith, Phoenix Mercury
Candace Parker, Chicago Sky (Current Las Vegas Aces)
Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm (Current New York Liberty)
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces

BEST DRIVER

Brittany Force, NHRA
Kyle Larson, NASCAR
Josef Newgarden, IndyCar
Max Verstappen, F1

BEST UFC FIGHTER

Leon Edwards
Jon Jones
Islam Makhachev
Amanda Nunes

BEST BOXER

Gervonta Davis
Devin Haney
Claressa Shields
Shakur Stevenson

BEST SOCCER PLAYER

Aitana Bonmatí, Spain/Barcelona
Erling Haaland, Norway/Manchester City
Lionel Messi, Argentina/PSG
Sophia Smith, USWNT/Portland Thorns

BEST GOLFER

Wyndham Clark
Nelly Korda
Jon Rahm
Scottie Scheffler

BEST TENNIS PLAYER

Carlos Alcaraz
Novak Djokovic
Aryna Sabalenka
Iga Świątek

STUART SCOTT ENSPIRE AWARD HONOREE

Dr. Richard Lapchick

MUHAMMAD ALI SPORTS HUMANITARIAN AWARD FINALISTS

Jamal Hill (Paralympic Swimmer and U.N. Ambassador)
Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks) 
Lauren Holiday (retired U.S. Women’s National Team)
Brad Stuver (Austin FC)

SPORTS HUMANITARIAN TEAM OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

Connecticut Sun
Indianapolis Colts
New York Jets
San Antonio Spurs

BILLIE JEAN KING YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARD

Jordan Adeyemi
Ashley Badis
Rishan Patel

BILLIE JEAN KING YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARD HONORABLE MENTIONS

Rumaiz Ahmed, Jamaica, New York
Onyekachukwu Arah, Silver Spring, Maryland
Ronny Delgado Zavala, Bronx, New York
Molly Dreher, Sacramento, California
Denecia Fernandes, Inglewood, California
Ana Klenke, Ballwin, Missouri
Viva Kreis, Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania
Sandhya Mahesh, Pearland, Texas
William Munro III, Gainesville, Florida
Ayanna Shah, San Diego, California

Updated 8:29 a.m. Tuesday, June 27: Added Sports Humanitarian Awards finalists.

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