Rams, Kupp, Ohtani among nominees for 2022 ESPY Awards

The Rams scored a nod for best team, while Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani was tabbed in the best male athlete category and Rams receiver Cooper Kupp landed in the championship performance category Tuesday as ESPN unveiled nominations for the 2022 ESPY Awards.

The Rams will compete for best team honors against the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, the WNBA’s Chicago Sky, baseball’s Atlanta Braves, the Oklahoma Sooners NCAA softball team, the Georgia Bulldogs NCAA football team and the NHL’s newly crowned Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.

Ohtani will have stiff competition in the best men’s sports athlete, facing off against four-time nominee Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers, 2015 winner Stephen Curry of the Warriors, and 2021 nominee Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.

Competing in the best women’s sports athlete category are skier and biathlete Oksana Masters, gymnast Sunisa Lee, swimmer Katie Ledecky and WNBA standout Candace Parker. Parker won the award in 2008.

The ESPYS honor major sports achievements, memorable moments from the past year, and top sports performers and performances. The honors will be presented on July 20 in downtown Los Angeles.

During the event, the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage will be presented to Vitali Klitschko — a former pro boxer who now serves as mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine; the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance will be presented to college basketball announcer Dick Vitale, who is battling cancer; and the Pat Tillman Award for Service will be presented to retired Army Sgt. Maj. Gretchen Evans, one of the most decorated female veterans in U.S. history.

Here is a complete list of ESPY nominees:

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 PLAY

Unbelievable Corner Kick Goal by Megan Rapinoe

Justin Tucker 66-yard NFL record field goal

Ja Morant’s POSTER

Hansel Enmanuel with the play of the year

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, MENS 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

T.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 Jokic, Denver Nuggets

Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

Luka Doncic, 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 Swiatek

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

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