Who Should Win at ESPY Awards?

by Eric Fulton & Julian Spivey

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Best Team 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL) 
Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB) 
Seattle Storm (WNBA) 
Alabama Crimson Tide (NCAA Football)
Baylor Bears (NCAA Men’s Basketball)
Stanford Cardinal (NCAA Women’s Basketball)
Oklahoma Sooners (NCAA Softball) 

This was the toughest to choose from out of all the categories. That is why I saved it for last. I am picking Alabama Football because of the dominant run they had in 2020 winning their 18th national championship. Most of Alabama’s games were blowouts except the Florida in the SEC Championship game. Led by DeVonta Smith’s fantastic season, the Tide could not be stopped in 2020. EF

My choice would honestly be the Los Angeles Lakers and I am dumbfounded that team wasn’t even nominated, one because it’s the most recent NBA champ (and the NBA is a Big Three pro sport) and two because I honestly believe the team to be the most worthy – they won the NBA championship in a season unlike any other due to COVID-19 in a fanless, single location atmosphere unlike any other. How did this happen? My vote goes to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in absence of the Lakers. JS

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Male Athlete 

Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1 Driver
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

Tom Brady continues to prove himself right and the doubters wrong again. When he hit free agency, we should have known wherever he landed, that team would be an instant contender. That team was the Buccaneers, who under Brady, became the first home team to play and win the Super Bowl. By the way, Mr. Brady has seven rings now. Like or not, he is the GOAT of quarterbacks. EF

Female Athlete

​Simone Biles, Women’s Gymnastics
Amanda Nunes, UFC
Naomi Osaka, Women’s Tennis
Brianna Stewart, Seattle Storm 

Simone Biles continues to redefine gymnastics every time she takes the floor. While there was no Summer Olympic games in 2020, we all can’t wait to see what she has in store in Tokyo in a few weeks. EF

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Breakthrough Athlete

LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets
Crystal Dangerfield, Minnesota Lynx
Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Chase Young, Washington Football Team

Justin Hebert had a great season for a Los Angeles Chargers team that is on the rise in the AFC. Hebert threw for 4,336 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2020, which led him to winning the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Herbert has the potential to be a great quarterback in the NFL for a long time. EF

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Best Game

NCAA Men’s Final Four: Gonzaga defeats UCLA 93-90 in Overtime
NCAA Women’s National Championship Game: Stanford defeats Arizona 54-53
NFL Week 14: Ravens top Browns 47-42
Stanley Cup Playoffs: Jets defeat Oilers in Triple OT

Gonzaga defeats UCLA. This was an incredible game to watch as a sports fan. UCLA, an 11th seed battling toe to toe with a Gonzaga team that was not only going for their first national championship, but a historic undefeated season. UCLA tied the game in overtime at 90 with 3.3 seconds left. Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs banked in a three-point shot from near center court to give the Bulldogs the win. Although Gonzaga’s championship bid fell short, they still gave fans something to remember. EF

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Record Breaking Performance

Tara Vandeveer passing Pat Summit for most wins in NCAA women’s college basketball history
DeVonta Smith recording breaking performance in the National Championship game.
Russell Westbrook passing Oscar Robertson’s 47-year old triple double record.
Phil Mickelson, at age 50 becoming the oldest winner of a major golf tournament. 

Phil ​Mickelson proved that age is just a number as he became the oldest winner ever at a Major tournament by winning the PGA Championship in May. Much like Tiger Woods’ victory at the 2019 Masters, this win seemed to unite sports fans at a time we all thought Phil may never would win another major again. EF

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NFL Player

Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams 
Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans 
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Here you have the NFL’s reigning Most Valuable Player in Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, you have the reigning Super Bowl MVP in Tom Brady, who’s still breaking records and doing unthinkable things at an unthinkable age for a pro athlete, you have the reigning Defensive Player of the Year winner in Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald (who has won three of the last four in that category) and Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry, who ran for more than 2,000 yards last season, which has only been done eight times in NFL history and in today’s pass-heavy game is almost unbelievable. I think Brady is going to win this honor and honestly, he’s worthy, but I was so irritated that Rodgers won the MVP over Henry last year. When you run for 2,000 yards in today’s NFL that deserves more respect. Henry has my vote. JS

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NBA Player

Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors 
Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks 
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets 
Chris Paul, Phoenix Suns 

I’m conflicted when it comes to this one. A lot of me believes it should be Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic because he was the NBA’s Most Valuable Player of its most recent season and generally the MVP is where I’m going to go for an honor like “Best NBA Player.” However, what Chris Paul has done to help transform the Phoenix Suns from one of the worst teams in the league just two years ago (and a non-playoff team last year) to likely winning the NBA title has been amazing to see. I voted on the ESPYs a few weeks ago and voted for Jokic, but now I honestly think I’m switching my vote to Paul. JS

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MLB Player 

Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox
Trevor Bauer, Cincinnati Reds/Los Angeles Dodgers 
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels
Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers 

Can you imagine how bad it’ll look if Trevor Bauer wins this award in the middle of being on MLB administrative leave while being investigated for sexual assault? Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen. This is a weird batch of nominees. You have the 2020 National League Cy Young winner in Bauer (but not the American League Cy Young winner in Shane Bieber), you have the 2020 American League MVP in Jose Abreu (but not the National League MVP in Freddie Freeman) and you have Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager here solely based on his 2020 postseason performance for the champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Then there’s Shohei Ohtani who has set the MLB world on fire this season both at the plate and on the mound for the Los Angeles Angels. I usually wouldn’t want to give this honor based on just a half season of play, but the half season Ohtani has put in so far in 2021 is historic. He’s my choice. JS

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NHL Player

Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning

Connor McDavid has shown flashes of brilliance in his short NHL career. Many have called him Gretzky 2.0.  McDavid joined Gretzky as the only players in NHL history to be named Hart Trophy (MVP) winner unanimously after McDavid scored an incredible 105 points in just 56 regular season games. (Note: the NHL regular season was reduced to 56 games due to the pandemic). EF

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Driver

Scott Dixon, IndyCar
Chase Elliott, NASCAR 
Eric Enders, NHRA
Lewis Hamilton, F1

If you’re going by the most dominant than the winner should definitely be Lewis Hamilton, who has thoroughly dominated Formula 1 over the last half decade or more winning four straight championships and six of the last seven. But I feel like F1 is more car than driver and there’s less competition in the series than say NASCAR or IndyCar. My choice would be Scott Dixon, who won his sixth IndyCar championship in 2020 with four wins. I feel like NASCAR’s championship is too gimmicky with the playoff system to pick Chase Elliott over Dixon, but NASCAR is the most popular motorsports series in American, where the majority of ESPY voters will be, and Elliott is the most popular driver in NASCAR, so I bet he wins this honor – even with Hamilton being an overall Male Athlete of the Year candidate. JS

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Men's Golf

Bryson DeChambeau
Dustin Johnson
Hideki Matsuyama
Phil Mickelson 

There’s been so much parity over the last year in golf that it’s hard to pick this award. The fact that Phil Mickelson is nominated is kind of laughable, he did become the oldest major winner in golf history when he stunned the sport at the PGA Championship a couple of months ago and that’s the sole reason he’s here, but other than that moment he hasn’t been good. He’s going to win this award though because of his mass popularity. Hideki Matsuyama won the Masters this year, it was also historical as he became the first Asian golfer to do so, but this one comes down to Bryson DeChambeau (who’s biggest win was the 2020 U.S. Open) and Dustin Johnson (who won the 2020 Masters). Johnson was also the 2020 FedEx Cup Champion and PGA Tour Player of the Year, so I definitely believe that gives him the advantage and he should win this honor. JS

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International Men's Soccer

Kylian Mbappe
Lionel Messi
Cristiano Rolando
Mohamed Salah 

Lionel Messi had yet another incredible year for Barcelona Club scoring 38 goals for a total for 683 goals, most for one player with one club. Messi has also scored another five goals for the Argentina national team, giving him 72 goals for his native country. Now a free agent in club play, wherever he goes, the world will follow. EF

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Men's Tennis

Novak Djokovic
Danil Menvendev
Rafael Nadal
Dominic Thiem

Women's Tennis

Victoria Azarenka
Ashleigh Barty
Sofia Kenin
Naomi Osaka 

Novak Djokovic continues to dominate men’s tennis to the level of all-time great.  His 328 weeks as the number one ranked men’s tennis player in the world is the most ever by a male tennis player. In 2020 and 2021, Djokovic won his eighth and ninth Australian Open title, which is an all-time record. He also became the third male tennis player to win all four Grand Slam single tournament titles twice joining Rod Laver and Roy Emerson. EF

Naomi Osaka is the reigning champion of the Australian Open and the US Open. In a short span of a couple of years, she has four single major championship titles to her credit and has become the number one female tennis player in the world. EF

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Men's College Athlete

Women's College Athlete

Glorie Amanda – Oregon State Soccer
Luka Garza – Iowa Basketball
Trevor Lawrence – Clemson Football
Devonta Smith – Alabama Football

Odicci Alexander – James Madison Softball
Paige Bueckers – UCONN Basketball
Jaelin Howell – Florida State Soccer
Madison Lilley – Kentucky Volleyball

Alabama wide receiver Devonta Smith had an incredible year in leading the Crimson Tide to their 18th National Championship. In 2020, he had 117 receptions for 1,856 yards and 23 total touchdowns becoming just the 3rd Alabama football player to win the Heisman Trophy, joining Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry. EF

Odicci Alexander led the Cinderella run of James Madison Softball to the Women’s College World Series. She was the star of the Dukes in which they upset the number one (and eventual National Champion) Oklahoma Sooners. Then she led the Dukes to another win over Oklahoma State. The Dukes would be eliminated by the Sooners in the semifinal round, but thanks to the pitching efforts of Alexander, the historic run by James Madison was one college softball fans will always remember. EF

To see who takes home the awards, watch the 2021 ESPYs on Saturday, July 10th on ABC.