One month after The New York Knicks won the 2026 NBA Finals, ending a 53-year championship drought for the franchise, the team and its star players took a victory lap by sweeping the 2026 ESPY Awards. The show, fittingly, was held in New York for the first time in five years, this time at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. The 2026 ESPYS aired live on the East Coast on Wednesday (July 15) at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
The Knicks won the ESPY for best team; Jalen Brunson won best athlete, men’s sports; best championship performance; and best NBA player; and teammate OG Anunoby’s tip-in in the NBA finals won for best play.
Other multiple winners were A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, who won best athlete, women’s sports and best WNBA player; Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won best single-game performance and best MLB player; and Myles Garrett, who was traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Los Angeles Rams on June 1. Neither Wilson nor Ohtani was present at the show.
SNL star Marcello Hernández proved to be a charismatic and effective host. He was introduced as the show’s first Latino host in 25 years. (That would be since actor Jimmy Smits hosted the 2000 show.)
The Savannah Bananas opened the show with an entertaining variety performance. Hip-hop stars De La Soul, Ghostface Killah and Slick Rick did very abbreviated sets. The ESPYS spends its time on special awards and taped packages, often with a strong emotional pull.
