Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks recently defeated Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in five games to win the 2026 NBA championship. Brunson led New York to its first NBA title in 53 years, playing sensationally on the biggest stage. Averaging 39 minutes per game, he shot 42.1% from the field, 86% from the free-throw line and 38.9% from 3-point range against San Antonio.
The 29-year-old point guard parlayed those percentages into a 32.6 points-per-game average in the Finals, including 45 points in the closeout Game 5. After the series ended, the Adlai E. Stevenson High School graduate was named the 2026 NBA Finals MVP.
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"Captain Clutch" has certainly changed his career this summer through his play in the NBA playoffs, but on Thursday, more career news was announced for the 6-foot-2 guard. On Thursday, ESPN released its nominees for the 2026 ESPYS Awards. Brunson was nominated in multiple categories. Brunson was nominated for Best NBA Player, Best Championship Performance and Best Athlete, Men's Sports.
For the Best NBA Player category, the Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic and the Spurs' Wembanyama joined Brunson. The Best Championship Performance category includes Aerin Frankel for USA Women's Hockey, Connor Hellebuyck for USA Men's Hockey and Teagan Kavan of Texas Longhorns softball alongside Brunson.
For the most coveted category, Best Athlete, Men's Sports, Inter Miami CF's Lionel Messi, the Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Rams' Matthew Stafford joined Brunson. These three nominations are the two-time All-NBA guard's first ESPY nominations since 2018, when he won his second NCAA championship under head coach Jay Wright (2016, 2018).
"Nominees for the 2026 @ESPYS," ESPN wrote on X. "Presented by Capital One have been announced! 🏆 Find out who will win July 15 | 8 p.m. ET | ABC, ESPN App 🎙️ Hosted by Marcello Hernández"
The ESPYS will be hosted by ABC on July 15 at 8 p.m. ET at the David H. Koch Theater in New York City.
