ESPY Award history: Full list of previous ESPYS winners for Best Male Athlete, Best Female Athlete, Best Team and more

07-11-2024
7 min read
(Getty Images)

It's time to recognize the greatest athletes and teams in sports. Yes, the ESPY Awards are back.

This year's ESPYS will be hosted by Serena Williams, who won 23 Grand Slams in her career. But the tennis legend will be far from the only big name in attendance at The Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Thursday night's festivities will also feature presenters such as Paige Bueckers, Draymond Green, Lindsey Vonn, Flau'jae Johnson, Damar Hamlin and Candace Parker. Several other athletes and celebrities are expected to attend the event as well.

Before Williams kicks off this year's ESPYS show, here's a look back at the previous winners of some of the biggest awards.

ESPY Award history: Full list of previous ESPYS winners

(Note: Traditional ESPY Awards were not handed out amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 show focused on humanitarian efforts rather than athletic achievements.)

Best Male Athlete

Year Award winner
1993 Michael Jordan
1994 Barry Bonds
1995 Steve Young
1996 Cal Ripken
1997 Michael Johnson
1998 Ken Griffey Jr. and Tiger Woods
1999 Mark McGwire
2000 Tiger Woods
2001 Tiger Woods
2002 Tiger Woods
2003 Lance Armstrong
2004 Lance Armstrong
2005 Lance Armstrong
2006 Lance Armstrong
2007 LaDainian Tomlinson
2008 Tiger Woods
2009 Michael Phelps
2010 Drew Brees
2011 Dirk Nowitzki
2012 LeBron James
2013 LeBron James
2014 Kevin Durant
2015 Stephen Curry
2016 LeBron James
2017 Russell Westbrook
2018 Alex Ovechkin
2019 Giannis Antetokounmpo
2020
2021 Tom Brady
2022 Shohei Ohtani
2023 Patrick Mahomes

Best Female Athlete

Year Award winner
1993 Monica Seles
1994 Julie Krone
1995 Bonnie Blair
1996 Rebecca Lobo
1997 Amy Van Dyken
1998 Mia Hamm
1999 Chamique Holdsclaw
2000 Mia Hamm
2001 Marion Jones
2002 Venus Williams
2003 Serena Williams
2004 Diana Taurasi
2005 Annika Sorenstam
2006 Annika Sorenstam
2007 Taryne Mowatt
2008 Candace Parker
2009 Nastia Liukin
2010 Lindsey Vonn
2011 Lindsey Vonn
2012 Brittney Griner
2013 Serena Williams
2014 Ronda Rousey
2015 Ronda Rousey
2016 Breanna Stewart
2017 Simone Biles
2018 Chloe Kim
2019 Alex Morgan
2020
2021 Naomi Osaka
2022 Katie Ledecky
2023 Mikaela Shiffrin

Best Breakthrough Athlete

Year Award winner
1993 Gary Sheffield
1994 Mike Piazza
1995 Jeff Bagwell
1996 Hideo Nomo
1997 Tiger Woods
1998 Nomar Garciaparra
1999 Randy Moss
2000 Kurt Warner
2001 Daunte Culpepper
2002 Tom Brady
2003 Alfonso Soriano
2004 LeBron James
2005 Dwyane Wade
2006 Chris Paul
2007 Devin Hester
2008 Adrian Peterson
2009 Matt Ryan
2010 Chris Johnson
2011 Blake Griffin
2012 Jeremy Lin
2013 Colin Kaepernick
2014 Richard Sherman
2015 Mo'ne Davis
2016 Jake Arrieta
2017 Dak Prescott
2018 Donovan Mitchell
2019 Saquon Barkley
2020
2021 LaMelo Ball
2022 Eileen Gu
2023 Angel Reese

Best Comeback Athlete

Year Award winner
1993 Dave Winfield
1994 Mario Lemieux
1995 Dan Marino
1996 Michael Jordan
1997 Evander Holyfield
1998 Roger Clemens
1999 Eric Davis
2000 Lance Armstrong
2001 Andres Galarraga
2002 Jennifer Capriati
2003 Tommy Maddox
2004 Bethany Hamilton
2005 Mark Fields
2006 Tedy Bruschi
2007
2008 Josh Hamilton
2009 Dara Torres
2010 Kim Clijsters
2011 Mark Herzlich
2012 Matthew Stafford
2013 Adrian Peterson
2014 Russell Westbrook
2015 Rob Gronkowski
2016 Eric Berry
2017 Jordy Nelson
2018
2019 St. Louis Blues
2020
2021
2022 Klay Thompson
2023 Jamal Murray

Best Coach/Manager

Year Award winner
1993 Jimmy Johnson
1994 Jimmy Johnson
1995 George Seifert
1996 Gary Barnett
1997 Joe Torre
1998 Jim Leyland
1999 Joe Torre
2000 Joe Torre
2001 Joe Torre
2002 Phil Jackson
2003 Jon Gruden
2004 Larry Brown
2005 Bill Belichick
2006 Bill Cowher
2007 Tony Dungy
2008 Pat Summitt
2009 Phil Jackson
2010 Phil Jackson
2011 Rick Carlisle
2012 Tom Coughlin
2013 Rick Pitino
2014 Gregg Popovich
2015 Steve Kerr
2016 Tyronn Lue
2017 Bob Hurley
2018 Aaron Feis, Scott Beigel, Chris Hixon
2019 Jim Calhoun
2020
2021 Tara VanDerveer
2022
2023

Best Team

Year Award winner
1993 Dallas Cowboys
1994 Toronto Blue Jays
1995 New York Rangers
1996 UConn Women's Basketball
1997 New York Yankees
1998 Denver Broncos
1999 New York Yankees
2000 U.S. Women's Soccer
2001 New York Yankees
2002 Los Angeles Lakers
2003 Anaheim Angels
2004 Detroit Pistons
2005 Boston Red Sox
2006 Pittsburgh Steelers
2007 Indianapolis Colts
2008 Boston Celtics
2009 Los Angeles Lakers
2010 New Orleans Saints
2011 Dallas Mavericks
2012 Miami Heat
2013 Miami Heat
2014 Seattle Seahawks
2015 U.S. Women's Soccer
2016 Cleveland Cavaliers
2017 Golden State Warriors
2018 Houston Astros
2019 U.S. Women's Soccer
2020
2021 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2022 Golden State Warriors
2023 Kansas City Chiefs

Arthur Ashe Courage Award

Year Award winner
1993 Jim Valvano
1994 Steve Palermo
1995 Howard Cosell
1996 Loretta Claiborne
1997 Muhammad Ali
1998 Dean Smith
1999 Billie Jean King
2000 Dave Sanders
2001 Cathy Freeman
2002 Todd Beamer, Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett and Jeremy Glick
2003 Pat and Kevin Tillman
2004 George Weah
2005 Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah and Kim MacClaren
2006 Afghan female soccer players
2007 Trevor Ringland and Dave Cullen
2008 John Carlos and Tommie Smith
2009 Nelson Mandela
2010 Ed Thomas
2011 Dewey Bozella
2012 Pat Summitt
2013 Robin Roberts
2014 Michael Sam
2015 Caitlyn Jenner
2016 Zaevion Dobson
2017 Eunice Kennedy Shriver
2018 Survivors of USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal
2019 Bill Russell
2020 Kevin Love
2021 Maya Moore
2022 Vitali Klitschko
2023 United States women's national soccer team
2024 Steve Gleason