2022 ESPY Awards: Steph Curry, Aaron Rodgers, Allyson Felix Lead Nominations

The nominees for the 2022 ESPY Awards, which honor the best moments and accomplishments in sports from the previous year, have been revealed by ESPN. Among those who garnered numerous nominations for the ceremony, which will be broadcast live on July 20, were Olympic track and field champion Allyson Felix, Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers, and Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors.

In addition to Curry and Rodgers, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers in ice hockey are competing for the title of Best Athlete, Men’s Sports. WNBA player Candace Parker, American Paralympic multi-sport champion Oksana Masters, American Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, and American Olympic gymnast Sunisa Lee are the four contenders for Best Athlete, Women’s Sports.

Allyson Felix, an 11-time medallist at the Olympics, will be honored for breaking a U.S. track and field record, while Tom Brady will be nominated for passing Drew Brees to become the NFL’s all-time passing yards leader.

Other notable nominations include NBA player Ja Morant and freestyle skier Eileen Gu, as well as the Warriors’ Klay Thompson and Nathan Chen for Best Comeback Athlete and Best Olympian, Men’s Sports, respectively.

The full list of nominees is provided below.

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
• Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
  

  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 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
  • 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 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

  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

  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

  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