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ESPY Awards 2019: Nominees, Presenters, Host, Predictions and More

Maurice Bobb@@ReeseReportX.com LogoFeatured ColumnistJuly 9, 2019

Tracy Morgan attends a screening of
Charles Sykes/Associated Press

The 2019 ESPY Awards are back and there's plenty of star power scheduled to light up Los Angeles.

The 27th annual event, which will be broadcast live from Microsoft Theater, will be hosted by comedian Tracy Morgan and feature the world's best athletes and entertainers.

While The Last O.G. actor peppers the crowd with jokes, awards will be presented in categories such as best male and female athletes, best team, best upset and breakthrough athlete.

Then there's the best record-breaking performance and, of course, a fan favorite, best viral sports moment.

Not surprisingly, this year's ESPYs will be star-studded, with celebrities like Dave Bautista, Usher, Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks, Joel McHale, Billie Jean King, Chris Long and Kumani Nanjiani scheduled to present athletes with awards for their breathtaking achievements.

Bill Russell will receive the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage and will be honored by a performance of "In Times Like These" from Grammy Award-winner Tori Kelly.

The ESPYs will air live July 10 on ABC from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET.

Tracy Morgan @TracyMorgan

Guess what??? I AM HOSTING THE 2019 #ESPYS! @espn going to let me shock the the world on July 10th on @ABCNetwork. @BoJackson is going to pay me me the money he owes me too! #redacted https://t.co/SjO9v3srxl

   

ESPY Nominations:

Best NBA Player

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

James Harden, Houston Rockets

Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors

Paul George, OKC Thunder

Best WNBA Player

Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm

Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury

Elena Delle Donne, Washington Mystics

Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks

Best Male Athlete

Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Brooks Koepka, Golf

Best Female Athlete

Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm

Simone Biles, Gymnast

Alex Morgan, USWNT

Mikaela Shiffrin, US Skiing

Best NFL Player

Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams

Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

Best MLB Player

Mookie Betts, Red Sox

Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers

Jacob DeGrom, New York Mets

Blake Snell, Tampa Bays Rays

Best Breakthrough Athlete

Saquon Barkley, New York Giants

Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers

Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks

Naomi Osaka – US Open, Australian Open

Best International Men's Soccer Player

Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo

Kylian Mbappe

Virgil Van Dyke

Best International Women's Soccer Player

Pernille Harder, Denmark

Ada Hegerberg, Norway

Sam Kerr, Australia

Lucy Bronze, England

Best NHL Player

Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning

Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche

Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

Best Driver

Lewis Hamilton, F1

Steve Torrence, NHRA

Scott Dixon, Indy

Kyle Busch, NASCAR

Best Boxer

Canelo Alvarez

Vasily Lomachenko

Oleksandr Usyk

Terence Crawford

Best MMA Fighter

Israel Adesanya

Daniel Cormier

Henry Cejudo

Amanda Nunes

Best Male Golfer

Brooks Koepka

Tiger Woods

Justin Rose

Francesco Molinari

Best Female Golfer

Ariya Jutanugarn

Brooke Henderson

Jin-Young Ko

Sung Hyun Park

Best Male Tennis Player

Novak Djokovic

Rafael Nadal

Roger Federer

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Best Female Tennis Player

Naomi Osaka

Simona Halep

Serena Williams

Petra Kvitová

Best Male Action Sports Athlete

Nyjah Huston (USA), skateboard

Scotty James (AUS), snowboard

Tom Pages (FRA), freestyle motocross

Gabriel Medina (BRA), surf

Best Female Action Sports Athlete

Kelly Sildaru (EST), ski

Chloe Kim (USA), snowboard

Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL), snowboard

Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), surf

Best Jockey

Irad Ortiz Jr.

Mike Smith

Florent Geroux

Jose Ortiz

Best Male Athlete With a Disability

Mark Barr – Triathalon

Declan Farmer – Hockey

Daniel Romanchuk – Marathon Racing

Oz Sanchez – Cycling

Best Female Athlete With a Disability

Oksana Masters, Nordic Skiing

Tatyana McFadden, Marathon Racing

Shawn Morelli, Cycling

Allysa Seely, Triathalon

Best Bowler

Jason Belmonte

Norm Duke

Anthony Simonsen

Jakob Butturff

Best MLS Player

Josef Martinez, Atlanta United

Wayne Rooney, DC United

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, LA Galaxy

Aaron Long, NY Red Bulls

Best NWSL Player

Lindsey Horan, Portland Thorns

Adrianna Franch, Portland Thorns

Sam Kerr, Chicago Red Stars

Abby Erceg, North Carolina Courage

Best Game

NCAAF – LSU vs. Texas A&M: Aggies win seven-overtime 74-72 thriller in highest-scoring game in FBS history

NFL Week 11 – LA Rams (54) vs. Kansas City Chiefs (51) – Monday Night Football

NCAAW Final Four – Notre Dame (81) vs. UConn (76) – 26 lead changes

Best College Athlete

Kyler Murray, Oklahoma Football – 2018 Heisman Trophy Winner

Zion Williamson, Duke MBB – 2019 Wooden Award Winner

Rachel Garcia, UCLA Softball – USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year

Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon WBB – 2019 Wooden Award Winner

Best Record-Breaking Performance

Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints) passed Peyton Manning's 71,940 career passing yards to move into first place on the all-time list; most completions in NFL history, 6,300+ completions passes Brett Favre

Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon Basketball) recorded her 13th triple-double. She now holds the men's and women's NCAA basketball record for triple-doubles. She surpassed Kyle Collinsworth's mark of 12 in four seasons at BYU. She also broke the Division I men's and women's record in a single season in the Ducks' 96–78 win over Southern California (7) breaking former BYU guard Kyle Collinsworth

Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors) broke the NBA 3-point record in a game with 14, passing Stephen Curry's previous mark

Matthew Boling became the first-ever high schooler to break 10 seconds in the 100-meter dash, dropping a 9.98

Best Team

Boston Red Sox, MLB
Clemson Tigers, NCAA football
New England Patriots, NFL
Toronto Raptors, NBA
Baylor Bears, NCAA women's basketball
Virginia Cavaliers, NCAA men's basketball
U.S. women's national team, soccer

Best Play

Miami Miracle: Miami Dolphins Stun the New England Patriots
Kawhi Leonard Drains Game-Winner at Buzzer in Game 7
Derrick Henry's NFL-record 99-yard run vs. Jaguars
Wayne Rooney Just Single-Handedly Won A Match For D.C. United
UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi scores a perfect 10
Andrew Benintendi calls game
Damian Lillard Sends OKC Home On Buzzer Beater
Manchester QB Brendon Clar throws this ball to Kevin Henderson for the 48 yard TD catch
Texas Tech WR makes one-handed grab that mirrors OBJs best catch
Kinsley Washington singled home Jacqui Prober to win the Bruins' 12th softball title
Julie Ertz gives the USWNT the lead early in the second half
Texas A&M's Infinite Tucker goes ALL OUT for the gold
Arike Ogunbowale Behind the Back Pass
Kihei Clark, Mamadi Diakite Save Virginia at the buzzer
Wilmington Charter's Taylor Gillis with CATCH OF THE YEAR!
"Hail Mary" pass helps Texas high school football team win state title

Best Viral Sports Moment

Rudolph "Blaze" Ingram, the 7-year-old running phenom is already faster than you
Texas A&M's Infinite Tucker goes ALL OUT for the gold
Katelyn Ohashi, UCLA Gymnastics – scores a perfect 10
Don't Sleep on Sister Mary Jo's curveball

Best Upset

NCAAF – Old Dominion defeats No. 13 Virginia Tech 49-35, Old Dominion only had a 1.8% chance of winning according to ESPN's FPI, making it the largest upset by an FBS team in the 14 years of Football Power Index projections

2018 US Open – Naomi Osaka defeating Serena Williams

NHL – Columbus Blue Jackets pulled off what many thought impossible, an upset for the ages after a 7-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on in Game 4 of their best-of-7 series.

Boxing – Andy Ruiz Jr. upset win over Anthony Joshua

Best WWE Moment

Roman Reigns returns to WWE Raw, announces his Leukemia is in remission

Becky Lynch wins both WWE Women's Championship Titles at Wrestlemania 35

Kofi Kingston wins his first WWE Heavyweight Championship Title at Wrestlemania 35

Ronda Rousey defeats Alexa Bliss at Summerslam 2018 to win her first RAW Women's Championship Title

    

Jimmy V Award for Perseverance Recipient: Rob Mendez.

St. Joe’s Basketball Coach/Best Coach Award Recipient: Jim Calhoun

Pat Tillman Award For Service Recipient: Kirstie Ennis

Arthur Ashe Award for Courage Recipient: Bill Russell

    

Predictions:

The Jimmy V and Arthur Ashe Awards are always a high point on the night, as well as the Pat Tillman Award.

This year, the list of nominees in almost every ESPY category is filled with great athletes and iconic sports moments.

While Giannis Antetokounmpo had a career year that ended with an MVP nod and led the Milwaukee Bucks to the best record in the NBA, Patrick Mahomes had an electric season as the quarterback of the future for the Kansas City Chiefs and will likely win the Best Male Athlete award.

The Seattle Storm's Breanna Stewart had a great season, but Simone Biles became the most decorated woman in gymnastics this year and will likely win the Best Female Athlete award.

For the Best Breakthrough Athlete award, New York Giants' rookie running back Saquon Barkley hurdled the competition out of the backfield, but he was a highly-touted player coming out of college.

Naomi Osaka made a name for herself by beating childhood hero Serena Williams in the U.S. Open. She's the likely winner of the award.

For the Best Record-Breaking Performance award, Drew Brees and Klay Thompson truly broke the record books, but Matthew Boling came out of nowhere and took the track world by storm with his 100-meter dash performance. With Usain Bolt retired, he could be the future star that Track & Field is looking for.

They just won but the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team should win the Best Team award for their dominance on the world stage.

There were too many Best Play moments to count, but the one that stands out is Kawhi Leonard’s game-winning, series-clinching buzzer-beater to eliminate the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7. The Toronto Raptors went on to beat the highly-favored Golden State Warriors for their first-ever NBA championship, so that moment should win.

    

Follow Maurice Bobb on Twitter, @ReeseReport