Species-Bridging 2015 ESPY Award Nominations Announced

The only award show where a horse could be the favorite airs July 15 on ABC.
Art & Culture
Species-Bridging 2015 ESPY Award Nominations Announced

The only award show where a horse could be the favorite airs July 15 on ABC.

Words: FLOOD Staff

June 24, 2015

The ESPYS logo

Surprisingly enough, the ESPYS have actually been going on since 1993, and despite the fact that you probably can’t remember who won any of the awards (even just last year), it remains in a league of its own simply because of how bizarre it is to see a bunch of athletes from all the major sports hang out together in formalwear.

The 2015 ceremony will be hosted by Community star Joel McHale, who cited his “stunning victory in the Iditarod this year by only using six Bichon Frises and a lamb” as the reason why he got the job. Good enough for us.

The ESPYS will air July 15 on ABC. Full nominee list below.


BEST MALE ATHLETE

Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
JJ Watt, Houston Texans

BEST FEMALE ATHLETE

Ronda Rousey, MMA
Breanna Stewart, UConn Basketball
Lindsey Vonn, Skiing
Serena Williams, WTA

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE

American Pharoah, Race Horse
Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants
Lauren Haeger, Florida Softball
LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers

BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE

Odell Beckham Jr, New York Giants
Mo’ne Davis, Little League Baseball
Cardale Jones, Ohio State Buckeyes
Jordan Spieth, PGA

BEST RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE

Lauren Chamberlain hits 91st home run in NCAA softball
Devin Hester takes punt in for 20th touchdown return
Peyton Manning throws record-509th touchdown pass
Klay Thompson scores 37 points in a single quarter

BEST UPSET

Georgia State over Baylor, NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
Kansas City Royals wins AL Pennant
Mississippi over Alabama, FBS

BEST GAME

A’s vs. Royals, MLB AL Wild Card
Spurs vs. Clippers Game 7, NBA Western Conference Quarterfinals
Patriots vs. Seahawks, Super Bowl

BEST PLAY (BRACKET-STYLE)

Odell Beckham catch vs. 16. Albany goalie lacrosse goal
Bahamas Bowl Hail Mary vs. 15. Dwayne Bravo cricket catch
Lionel Messi goal vs. 14. Jerian Grant dunk
Malcolm Butler INT vs. 13. Josh Sheehan triple back flip
Stephen Curry step back 3 vs. 12. Ameer Abdullah TD run
Ronda Rousey armbar vs. 11. Gerald Green dunk off the glass
Tyler Ennis goal vs. 10. Shoni Schimmel circus shot
Kevin Pillar catch vs. 9. Jeremy Menez goal

BEST COACH/MANAGER

Geno Auriemma, UConn Huskies
Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke Blue Devils
Urban Meyer, Ohio State Buckeyes

BEST COMEBACK ATHLETE

Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots
Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
Lindsey Vonn, Skiing

BEST INTERNATIONAL ATHLETE

Novak Djokovic, ATP
Lewis Hamilton, Formula One
Lydia Ko, LPGA
Lionel Messi, Barcelona/Argentina
Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid/Portugal

BEST NFL PLAYER

Tom Brady, New England Patriots
Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers
DeMarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
JJ Watt, Houston Texans

BEST MLB PLAYER

Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants
Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
Corey Kluber, Cleveland Indians
Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins
Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

BEST NHL PLAYER

Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks
Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
John Tavares, New York Islanders
Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks

BEST DRIVER

Erica Enders-Stevens, NHRA
Lewis Hamilton, Formula One
Kevin Harvick, NASCAR
Juan Pablo Montoya, IndyCar
Will Power, IndyCar

BEST NBA PLAYER

Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
James Harden, Houston Rockets
LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder

BEST WNBA PLAYER

Skylar Diggins, Tulsa Shock
Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury
Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx
Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury

BEST FIGHTER

Donald Cerrone, MMA
Terence Crawford, Boxing
Gennady Golovkin (GGG), Boxing
Floyd Mayweather Jr, Boxing
Ronda Rousey, MMA

BEST MALE GOLFER

Rory McIlroy
Jordan Spieth
Billy Horschel

BEST FEMALE GOLFER

Lydia Ko
Stacy Lewis
Inbee Park

BEST MALE TENNIS PLAYER

Marin Cilic
Novak Djokovic
Roger Federer
Stan Wawrinka

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMtF8EEAZqU

BEST FEMALE TENNIS PLAYER

Simona Halep
Petra Kvitova
Maria Sharapova
Serena Williams

BEST MALE COLLEGE ATHLETE

Jack Eichel, Boston University Hockey
Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin Basketball
Marcus Mariota, Oregon Football
Logan Stieber, Ohio State Wrestling
Dansby Swanson, Vanderbilt Baseball

BEST FEMALE COLLEGE ATHLETE

Taylor Cummings, Maryland Lacrosse
Missy Franklin, Cal Swimming
Lauren Haeger, Florida Softball
Micha Hancock, Penn State Volleyball
Breanna Stewart, Connecticut Basketball

BEST MALE ACTION SPORTS ATHLETE

Ryan Dungey, Motocross
Tucker Hibbert, SnoCross
Nyjah Huston, Skateboarding
Mark McMorris, Snowboarding
Josh Sheehan, Freestyle Motocross

BEST FEMALE ACTION SPORTS ATHLETE

Paige Alms, Surfing
Kelly Clark, Snowboarding
Stephanie Gilmore, Surfing
Laia Sanz, Enduro/motorbike

BEST JOCKEY

Javier Castellano
Victor Espinoza
Joel Rosario

BEST MALE ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY

Joe Berenyi, Cycling
Josh Pauls, Sled Hockey
Krige Schabort, Triathlon
Mike Shea, Snowboarding
Andy Soule, Nordic Skiing

BEST FEMALE ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY

Kendall Gretsch, Triathlon
Oksana Masters, Nordic Skiing
Tatyana McFadden, Track and Field
Becca Meyers, Swimming
Greta Neimanas, Cycling

BEST BOWLER

Jason Belmonte
Parker Bohn III
Mike Fagan

BEST MLS PLAYER

Robbie Keane, Los Angeles Galaxy
Obafemi Martins, Seattle Sounders
Lee Nguyen, New England Revolution
Bradley Wright-Phillips, New York Red Bulls

The ESPYS air July 15 on ABC.