Philadelphia Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley, who led the NFL in rushing this year and the Eagles to victory in the Super Bowl, leads all nominees for the 2025 ESPY Awards, scoring a leading three mentions Thursday in the honors recognizing the year’s best in sports.
Barkley is up in the category for Best Athlete – Men’s Sports, joined by the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, NFL MVP Josh Allen and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the newly crowned NBA champs Oklahoma City. Barkley is also up for Best NFL Player and Best Play, that viral mid-run backwards hurdle against the Jacksonville Jaguars in November.
Ohtani, up for Best Athlete – Men’s Sports for a second year in a row, is among a group with two noms that includes Allen, Gilgeous-Alexander, U.S. Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, and the WNBA’s Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson, the latter of whom joins Biles and U.S. track gold medalists Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the race for Best Athlete – Women’s Sports.
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Other multi-nominees include career Grand Slam golfer Rory McIlroy and former Duke basketball player Cooper Flagg, who on Wednesday was the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft and is headed to the Dallas Mavericks.
Winners in all 22 categories will be revealed July 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT live on ABC and ESPN+ from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Shane Gillis is the host.
Here’s the full list of nominees:
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
BEST PLAY
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 Tarheels – 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