Jalen Brunson was on center stage in New York again Wednesday, this time for a trio of ovations at the 2026 ESPY Awards.
Hosted by Marcello Hernandez of “Saturday Night Live” fame Wednesday evening at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York, the show kicked off with Brunson winning the first major award of the evening, before he capped things with another award a couple of hours later and then joined his teammates on stage for the final award of the evening.
Brunson won “Best Championship Performance” and then “Best Athlete – Men’s Sports” for guiding the New York Knicks — the ESPY’s “Best Team” — to their first NBA championship since 1973. Brunson averaged 32.6 points per game in the Finals, to go along with 4.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals. That came after a regular season where he averaged 26.0 points, 6.8 assists and 0.8 steals for the 53-29 Knicks.
During his first acceptance speech, Brunson shouted out his family before thanking his coaches and teammates.
“I am forever indebted to them, thank you,” Brunson said.
Later in the evening, Jim Abbott, the former Major League Baseball pitcher who played in the majors for a decade despite being born without a right hand, won the “Jimmy V Award for Perseverance.”
“I was born missing my right hand, and I never wanted to make a big deal about that,” Abbott said. “Being born this way, I knew what it was like to be different, I knew what it was like to be on the outside looking in and I knew what it was like to be on a team.
“Of all the great blessings sports has given me, that sense of belonging is the best.”
Alyssa Liu won “Best Breakthrough Athlete” following her gold medal for figure skating at the Winter Olympics. “I had some really rough times in (the sport), and I took two years off, and so it really feels like I did break through in my own way, and for my sport,” Liu said.
Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry took home the “Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian” award. His charity “Eat, Learn, Play” has helped feed children and provide them playgrounds to play on in the Oakland area.
“When you hear Ali’s name, you think about greatness,” Curry said. “This award being connected to his legacy is incredibly humbling.”
After crediting volunteers, teachers, and all those involved in the program, Curry implored other athletes to give back to their communities.
“Don’t ever forget you have a platform, you have a voice, you have everything you need to make a true impact, and I encourage you to find your Oakland.”
The “Best College Athletes” were Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza and UCLA basketball player Lauren Betts, the latter of whom spoke about the importance of mental health in her acceptance speech.
“Your mental health is not separate from your success,” Betts said. “It is the foundation of everything that you do.
“The strongest people aren’t the ones who never struggle; they’re the ones who have the courage to let someone walk through the struggle with them.”
The “Pat Tilman Award for Service” went to Scott Ruskan, a former cross country athlete at Rider University who helped rescue 165 Texas flood survivors last July as a member of the Coast Guard.
“There were a lot of heroes that day who aren’t getting an ESPY Award,” Ruskan said. “It took a complete army of people to get (the rescue) done.”
Other 2026 ESPY Awards:
Best Athlete – Women’s Sports: A’ja Wilson
Arthur Ashe Award for Courage: Jason Collins
Best Single-Game Performance: Shohei Ohtani
Best Play: OG Anunoby
Best Record-Breaking Performance: Myles Garrett
Best High School Athletes: Maddie DiMaria, Grady Emerson
–Field Level Media
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