Best Male Athlete ESPY award - wikipedia Best Male Athlete ESPY award Best Male Athlete ESPY Award Awarded for best male athlete Location Los Angeles ( 2018 ) Presented by ESPN First awarded 2000 Currently held by Alexander Ovechkin ( Russia ) Website www.espn.co.uk/espys/ The Best Male Athlete ESPY Award, known alternatively as the Outstanding Male Athlete ESPY Award, has been presented annually at the ESPY Awards since 1993 to the male voted irrespective of nationality or sport contested, adjudged to be the best athlete in a given calendar year. Between 1993 and 2004, the award voting panel comprised variously fans ; sportswriters and broadcasters, sports executives, and retired sportspersons, termed collectively experts ; and ESPN personalities, but balloting thereafter has been exclusively by fans over the Internet from amongst choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year ; awards presented thereafter are conferred in June and reflect performance from the June previous. Three American athletes, golfer Tiger Woods, road cyclist Lance Armstrong, and basketball player LeBron James, have won the award multiple times. Woods was honored five times : in 1998 ( jointly with Ken Griffey Jr. ), 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2008. Armstrong was honored four times from 2003 to 2006 inclusive while James received the trophy in 2012, 2013 and 2016. Basketball is the most successful sport, its players having received a total of eight awards since its inception. The award has been won by a non-American once -- in 2011 by German basketball player Dirk Nowitzki. The 2017 winner of the Best Male Athlete ESPY Award was basketball player Russell Westbrook who received his trophy at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Contents 1 List of winners 2 Statistics 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References List of winners Winners of the Best Male Athlete ESPY Award Year Image Athlete Nation represented Sport Ref 1993 Michael Jordan United States Basketball 1994 Barry Bonds United States Baseball 1995 Steve Young United States American football Cal Ripken Jr. United States Baseball 1997 Michael Johnson United States Track and field 1998 Tiger Woods United States Golf Ken Griffey Jr. United States Baseball 1999 Mark McGwire United States Baseball 2000 Tiger Woods United States Golf 2001 Tiger Woods United States Golf 2002 Tiger Woods United States Golf 2003 Lance Armstrong United States Road cycling Lance Armstrong United States Road cycling 2005 Lance Armstrong United States Road cycling 2006 Lance Armstrong United States Road cycling 2007 LaDainian Tomlinson United States American football 2008 Tiger Woods United States Golf 2009 Michael Phelps United States Swimming Drew Brees United States American football 2011 Dirk Nowitzki Germany Basketball 2012 LeBron James United States Basketball 2013 LeBron James United States Basketball 2014 Kevin Durant United States Basketball 2015 Stephen Curry United States Basketball 2016 LeBron James United States Basketball 2017 Russell Westbrook United States Basketball 2018 Alexander Ovechkin Russia Hockey Statistics Winners by sport contested Sport contested Number of awards Individual winners Basketball 8 6 Golf 5 Baseball Road cycling American football Track and field Swimming Hockey -- includes award shared by Woods and Griffey Jr. in 1998 Winners by nation represented Nation represented Number of awards Individual winners United States 22 15 Germany Russia -- includes award shared by Woods and Griffey Jr. in 1998 See also Best Female Athlete ESPY Award Best International Athlete ESPY Award Notes ^ Jump up to : Felt, Hunter ( 13 July 2017 ). `` ESPY Awards 2017 : Simone Biles and Russell Westbrook win Best Athletes - as it happened ''. The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ Because of the rescheduling of the ESPY Awards ceremony, the award presented in 2002 was given in consideration of performance betwixt February 2001 and June 2002. ^ Jump up to : Smart, Barry ( 24 August 2005 ). The Sport Star : Modern Sport and the Cultural Economy of Sporting Celebrity. SAGE Publications Ltd. p. 190. ISBN 0 - 7619 - 4351 - X. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ Bernstein, Ross ( 1 August 2012 ). Barry Bonds. Lerner Publishing Group. p. 52. ISBN 1 - 4677 - 0387 - 7. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ `` Young, Blair earn top ESPY awards ''. Deseret News. 14 February 1995. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ `` Ripken, Lobo cart off two ESPYs each ''. Deseret News. 13 February 1996. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ `` ESPY Award Winners ''. Las Vegas Sun. 11 February 1997. Jump up ^ Christopher, Paul J. ; Smith, Alicia Marie ( 1 September 2006 ). Greatest Sports Heroes of All Times : North American Edition. Encouragement Press. p. 217. ISBN 1 - 933766 - 09 - 3. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ Baxi, Shashwat ( 12 February 2009 ). `` And Then There Was One : Only Griffey Jr. Remains from Pre-Steroid Era ! ''. Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ `` Awards : McGwire top ESPY winner ''. Kitsap Sun. 16 February 1999. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017. ^ Jump up to : Johanson, Paula ( 7 April 2011 ). Lance Armstrong : A Biography. Greenwood. p. 76. ISBN 0 - 313 - 38690 - 0. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ Harris, Beth ( 12 July 2007 ). `` Chargers ' Tomlinson Wins 4 ESPY Awards ''. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ Myers, Alex ( 5 December 2013 ). `` Throwback Thursday : That time Will Ferrell accepted an award... as Tiger Woods ''. Golf Digest. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ `` Phelps a big winner at ESPY Awards ''. ABC. 15 July 2009. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ Harris, Beth ( 14 July 2010 ). `` Brees, Vonn take home top ESPYs ''. Deseret News. Archived from the original on 23 July 2010. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ Tourtellotte, Bob ( 14 July 2011 ). `` Mavericks, Nowitzki shine at Espy Awards ''. Reuters. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ Goss, Nicholas ( 12 July 2012 ). `` ESPY Awards 2012 Winners : Why LeBron James Deserves His Multiple Awards ''. Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 20 August 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ Grant, Ethan ( 18 July 2013 ). `` ESPY 2013 Winners : Robin Roberts, LeBron James and Athletes Who Stole the Show ''. Bleacher Report. Jump up ^ Zucker, Joseph ( 17 July 2014 ). `` ESPY 2014 Winners : Awards Results, Recap, Top Moments and Twitter Reaction ''. Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 1 May 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ Nathan, Alec ( 16 July 2015 ). `` ESPY Awards 2015 Results : Analyzing LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Other Winners ''. Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 19 July 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ Harris, Beth ( 13 July 2016 ). `` LeBron leads call at ESPY awards to end gun violence ''. National Basketball Association. Archived from the original on 15 July 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Jump up ^ `` 2018 ESPY Awards : Winners list ''. References Enumeration of past winners from HickokSports.com at the Library of Congress Web Archives ( archived 2002 - 02 - 23 ) Best Male Athlete ESPY Award winners 1993 : Jordan 1994 : Bonds 1995 : Young 1996 : Ripken Jr. 1997 : Johnson 1998 : Woods / Griffey Jr. 1999 : McGwire 2000 : Woods 2001 : Woods 2002 : Woods 2003 : Armstrong 2004 : Armstrong 2005 : Armstrong 2006 : Armstrong 2007 : Tomlinson 2008 : Woods 2009 : Phelps 2010 : Brees 2011 : Nowitzki 2012 : James 2013 : James 2014 : Durant 2015 : Curry 2016 : James 2017 : Westbrook 2018 : Ovechkin ESPY Awards Cross-cutter Courage Female Athlete Male Athlete Breakthrough Athlete Championship Performance Coach / Manager Female College Athlete Male College Athlete Comeback Athlete Female Athlete with a Disability Male Athlete with a Disability Game Perseverance Upset Moment Play Record - Breaking Performance Team Individual Female Action Male Action Bowler Driver Fighter Female Golfer Male Golfer Jockey MLS MLB NBA NFL NHL Female Tennis Male Tennis WNBA International Athlete Male U.S. Olympian Female U.S. Olympian Discontinued Action Soccer Female Soccer Male Soccer U.S. Olympian Male College Basketball Female College Basketball College Football Disabled Angler Boxer Golfer Female Track Male Track Outdoor Sportsman Movie Undeniable Performance Track and Field Award ceremonies 1993 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Sportsperson of the Year National Algeria Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria Canada Marsh ( general ) Conacher ( male ) Rosenfeld ( female ) Springstead ( female ) Croatia Czechoslovakia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Hungary Iceland India Iran Ireland Italy Jamaica Japan Kenya Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malaysia Moldova Montenegro Netherlands New Zealand Norway Philippines Poland Portugal Serbia NOC Slovakia Slovenia South Africa Spain Sweden Bragdguldet Jerringpris Idrottsgalan Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom Northern Ireland Scotland Wales United States AP ESPY female male Sporting News Sports Illustrated NOC USSR Yugoslavia Sport Sportske novosti Zimbabwe World Laureus Awards BBC Overseas Sports Personality L'Équipe Champion of Champions Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Best_Male_Athlete_ESPY_Award&oldid=851109516 '' Categories : ESPY Awards National sportsperson - of - the - year trophies and awards Awards established in 1993 Hidden categories : Articles with hCards Webarchive template other archives Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 20 July 2018, at 04 : 08 ( UTC ). 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Question: who won the espy for best male athlete
Answer: Alexander Ovechkin