From an NCAA women’s national championship, to a Cardi B lyrical shout-out and Latto music video cameo, and now a 2023 ESPY Award nomination — LSU’s Angel Reese is having an unstoppable year.
Reese is among the newly announced 2023 nominees for ESPN’s ESPY Awards, nabbing a best breakthrough athlete nod for her starmaking turn leading the Louisiana State University women’s basketball team to the college title this past spring. And the championship was just the beginning: Reese recently made a cameo in Latto’s “Put It On Da Floor Again” music video, in which featured act Cardi B raps, “I been ballin’ so damn hard could’ve went to LSU.”
Reese will once again face off against Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark, her NCAA finals foe, in the best breakthrough athlete category, as well as the San Francisco 49ers’ Brock Purdy and the Seattle Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez. (In addition to the individual nom, Reese’s Louisiana State Tigers are also up for best team at the awards show.)
In the top two fields, Nikola Jokić of reigning NBA champs the Denver Nuggets will compete against New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and Argentinean soccer superstar Lionel Messi for the best athlete, men’s sports prize; while the best athlete, women’s sports category is between Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin, Portland Thorns soccer star Sophia Smith, Polish tennis champ Iga Świątek, and Las Vegas Aces WNBA player A’ja Wilson.
The 2023 ESPYs will broadcast live on Wednesday, July 12, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC from Los Angeles. Recipients of the ESPYs’ three pillar awards — the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, and the Pat Tillman Award for Service — will be announced next week.
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 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 – 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 Men’s 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
