Brunson Sweeps Three ESPYs as Knicks Claim Best Team on Historic Night
Jalen Brunson turned the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center into a second home on Wednesday evening, collecting three standing ovations at the 2026 ESPY Awards in a ceremony that served as a formal coronation of the New York Knicks' remarkable NBA championship run. Hosted by Saturday Night Live's Marcello Hernandez, the night opened and closed with Brunson at center stage - bookending the evening with individual honors before joining his teammates to collect the Best Team award in the final moments of the show.
Brunson took home Best Championship Performance first, a recognition built on a Finals run that saw him average 32.6 points, 4.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.2 steals per game - numbers that made the argument for his supremacy almost unanswerable. That came off the back of a regular season in which he posted 26.0 points and 6.8 assists per game for a Knicks side that finished 53-29. For sports fans who enjoy tracking elite individual performances across disciplines - much like those who follow football's knockout-stage heroics on platforms such as media.sapphirebet.com - Brunson's postseason output stands as one of the defining individual efforts of the decade in professional basketball. In his acceptance speech, he kept things grounded: "I am forever indebted to them, thank you," he said, crediting coaches and teammates before acknowledging his family.
A couple of hours later, Brunson returned to the stage to collect Best Athlete in Men's Sports, cementing what had already been the most decorated individual night of his career. The Knicks' championship - their first since 1973 - has reshaped the league's narrative around New York, a franchise that spent decades as a cautionary tale about mismanagement and near-misses. Brunson's ascent from a quietly acquired point guard to a franchise cornerstone and now a multi-ESPY winner reflects both personal growth and an organization that finally got the infrastructure right around him.
Abbott, Curry and Liu Add Depth to a Memorable Evening
Beyond the basketball story, the 2026 ESPYs delivered moments of genuine weight. Jim Abbott, the former MLB pitcher who competed at the highest level for a decade despite being born without a right hand, received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance. His speech was measured and honest. "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," Abbott said. "Of all the great blessings sports has given me, that sense of belonging is the best." It was the kind of speech that cuts through the ceremony's pageantry and lands somewhere real.
Steph Curry collected the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award for his Oakland-based charity Eat, Learn, Play, which provides meals and recreational infrastructure for children in underserved communities. Curry used his platform wisely, challenging fellow athletes directly: "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." Figure skater Alyssa Liu, who claimed gold at the Winter Olympics after a two-year absence from the sport, won Best Breakthrough Athlete, describing her return as a personal breakthrough as much as a competitive one.
Service, Mental Health and the Night's Wider Honours
The Pat Tillman Award for Service went to Scott Ruskan, a former Rider University cross country runner who, as a Coast Guard member, helped rescue 165 survivors from Texas flooding last July. His humility was striking. "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 it done." UCLA basketball player Lauren Betts, who shared the Best College Athlete award with Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, used her moment to speak plainly about mental health. "Your mental health is not separate from your success," Betts said. "It is the foundation of everything that you do."
The remaining awards rounded out a broad and well-curated evening. A'ja Wilson took Best Athlete in Women's Sports, Shohei Ohtani claimed Best Single-Game Performance, OG Anunoby won Best Play, and Myles Garrett took Best Record-Breaking Performance. The Arthur Ashe Award for Courage went to Jason Collins. For Brunson and the Knicks, though, Wednesday night in New York was simply another chapter in a season that has already rewritten the city's basketball history.
