The 2023 ESPY Awards took place recently to honor leading athletes of this year. There were a few incredible moments that conspired between 2022 and 2023, especially in the NBA. There were quite a few records that were broken and impressive stat lines that were created. And for the first time in franchise history, the Denver Nuggets won the NBA Championship against another team that made an incredible run to the finals, the Miami Heat.
LeBron James was rewarded for his excellence in scoring as he shattered Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 38,387 regular season points. James averaged 38.9 points along with 8.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game at age 38. Jamal Murray was celebrated as this year’s best comeback athlete of the year. Murray suffered from an ACL tear and missed an entire season. During this year’s playoffs, he averaged 26.1 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Even college-level athletes were given awards based on their performances. It wasn’t unexpected that Caitlin Clark won best college athlete (women). Her rival, Angel Reese received an ESPY for being the best breakthrough athlete of the year. A’ja Wilson was named the best WNBA player of the year and Nikola Jokic was crowned as the king of the NBA. Similarly, numerous athletes won an award as well. Let us take a look at who won an ESPY Award this year.
List of 2023 ESPY Awards Winners
Besides the NBA there were quite a few legends who dominated other sports. Even the UFC witnessed a series of incredible fights and comebacks. We witnessed Israel Adesanya solidify his place as the middleweight GOAT while Jon Jones took the heavyweight title after three years of absence. Obviously, Novak Djokovic also had an amazing run a few months ago after breaking the record for most grand slams won.
Jamal Murray is ready to share the Comeback Player ESPY 😅
“We can share this together [Jon Jones], just don’t choke me out.” pic.twitter.com/BBpax08LME
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 13, 2023
Full list of 2023 ESPY Award Winners:
- LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers (Best Record-Breaking Performance)
- Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets (Best NBA Player)
- Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets (Best Comeback Athlete)
- Jrue and Lauren Holiday (Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award)
- A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces (Best WNBA Player)
- Angel Reese, LSU Tigers Women’s Basketball (Best Breakthrough Athlete)
- Caitlin Clark, Iowa Women’s Basketball (Best Female College Athlete)
- Jon Jones (Best UFC Fighter)
- Kansas City Chiefs (Best Team:)
- Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (Best Athlete, Men’s Sports)
- Mikaela Shiffrin, Skiing (Best Female Athlete)
- Lionel Messi, Argentina — World Cup Final (Best Championship Performance)
- Claressa Shields (Best Boxer)
- Justin Jefferson (Best Play)
- Caleb Williams, USC Football (Best Male College Athlete)
- Zach Miller, Snowboarding (Best Athlete with a Disability)
- Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (Best NFL Player)
- Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels (Best MLB Player)
- Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers (Best NHL Player)
- Max Verstappen, F1 (Best Driver)
- Lionel Messi, Argentina/PSG (Best Soccer Player)
- Scottie Scheffler (Best Golfer)
- Novak Djokovic (Best Tennis Player)
- U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (Arthur Ashe Award for Courage)
- Liam Hendriks, Chicago White Sox (Jimmy V Award for Perseverance)
- Buffalo Bills training staff (Pat Tillman Award for Service)
- Jordan Adeyemi, Ashley Badis, Rishan Patel (Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award)