# Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award

The Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award, known alternatively as the Breakthrough Athlete of the Year ESPY Award, is an annual award honoring the achievements of an individual in the world of sports. It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 1993. The Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award trophy, created by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is awarded to the sportsperson adjudged to have made the greatest breakthrough in a major international individual sport or North American professional team sport. The award is typically given to a sportsperson in his or her rookie season at a given level but may be won by any athlete who in a given year improves his or her performance dramatically or otherwise becomes well-recognized. Since 2004, the winner has been chosen by online voting through choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts. 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 July and reflect performance from the June previous.
The inaugural winner of the Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award in 1993 was San Diego Padres outfielder Gary Sheffield. The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo of Japan received the trophy in 1996, and is one of two sports persons born outside of the United States to have received the award, the other being Dominican Republican left fielder and second baseman Alfonso Soriano of the New York Yankees in 2003. Additionally, 2022 winner Eileen Gu was born in America, but competed for China. Gu is one of two women to win the award, the other being Mo'ne Davis of the Little League Baseball team Anderson Monarchs in 2015. American football players have been most successful at the awards with eleven victories and thirteen nominations, followed by baseball players with eight wins and ten nominations. No athlete has ever won the accolade more than once. The award was not awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Winners and nominees

Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award winners and nominees :
| Year | Image | Athlete | Nationality | Team | Competition | Sport | Nominees | Refs |
| 1993 | | Gary Sheffield | USA | San Diego Padres | Major League Baseball | Baseball | Fred Couples ( USA) – Golf Jim Courier ( USA) – Tennis Barry Foster ( USA) – Pittsburgh Steelers | |
| 1994 | | Mike Piazza | USA | Los Angeles Dodgers | Major League Baseball | Baseball | — | |
| 1995 | | Jeff Bagwell | USA | Houston Astros | Major League Baseball | Baseball | Ernie Els ( RSA) – Golf Tommy Moe ( USA) – Skiing | |
| 1996 | | Hideo Nomo | JPN | Los Angeles Dodgers | Major League Baseball | Baseball | Jeff Blake ( USA) –Cincinnati Bengals Martin Brodeur ( CAN) – New Jersey Devils | |
| 1997 | | Tiger Woods | USA | — | PGA Tour | Golf | Mariano Rivera ( PAN) – New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez ( USA) – Seattle Mariners | |
| 1998 | | Nomar Garciaparra | USA | Boston Red Sox | Major League Baseball | Baseball | — | |
| 1999 | | Randy Moss | USA | Minnesota Vikings | National Football League | American football | — | |
| 2000 | | Kurt Warner | USA | St. Louis Rams | National Football League | American football | Sergio García ( SPA) – Golf Serena Williams ( USA) – Tennis | |
| 2001 | | Daunte Culpepper | USA | Minnesota Vikings | National Football League | American football | Rulon Gardner ( USA) – Wrestling Josh Heupel ( USA) – Oklahoma Sooners Marat Safin ( RUS) – Tennis | |
| 2002 | | Tom Brady | USA | New England Patriots | National Football League | American football | Kevin Harvick ( USA) – NASCAR Sarah Hughes ( USA) – Figure skating Ichiro Suzuki ( JPN) – Seattle Mariners | |
| 2003 | | Alfonso Soriano | DOM | New York Yankees | Major League Baseball | Baseball | LeBron James ( USA) – Cleveland Cavaliers Jimmie Johnson ( USA) – NASCAR Yao Ming ( CHN) – Houston Rockets Clinton Portis ( USA) – Denver Broncos | |
| 2004 | | LeBron James | USA | Cleveland Cavaliers | National Basketball Association | Basketball | Freddy Adu ( USA) – Soccer Carmelo Anthony ( USA) – Denver Nuggets Jake Delhomme ( USA) – Carolina Panthers Michelle Wie ( USA) – Golf | |
| 2005 | | Dwyane Wade | USA | Miami Heat | National Basketball Association | Basketball | Danica Patrick ( USA) – IndyCar Series Ben Roethlisberger ( USA) – Pittsburgh Steelers Maria Sharapova ( RUS) – Tennis | |
| 2006 | | Chris Paul | USA | New Orleans Hornets | National Basketball Association | Basketball | Kimmie Meissner ( USA) – Figure skating Alexander Ovechkin ( RUS) – Washington Capitals Shaun White ( USA) – Snowboarding | |
| 2007 | | Devin Hester | USA | Chicago Bears | National Football League | American football | Kevin Durant ( USA) – Texas Longhorns Ryan Howard ( USA) – Philadelphia Phillies Morgan Pressel ( USA) – Golf | |
| 2008 | | Adrian Peterson | USA | Minnesota Vikings | National Football League | American football | Kyle Busch ( USA) – NASCAR Stephen Curry ( USA) – Davidson Wildcats Ana Ivanovic ( SER) – Tennis | |
| 2009 | | Matt Ryan | USA | Atlanta Falcons | National Football League | American football | Shawn Johnson ( USA) – Gymnastics Evan Longoria ( USA) – Tampa Bay Rays Derrick Rose ( USA) – Chicago Bulls | |
| 2010 | | Chris Johnson | USA | Tennessee Titans | National Football League | American football | Brittney Griner ( USA) – Baylor Bears Stephen Strasburg ( USA) – Washington Nationals John Wall ( USA) – Kentucky Wildcats | |
| 2011 | | Blake Griffin | USA | Los Angeles Clippers | National Basketball Association | Basketball | José Bautista ( DOM) – Toronto Blue Jays Arian Foster ( USA) – Houston Texans Li Na ( CHN) – Tennis Cam Newton ( USA) – Auburn Tigers | |
| 2012 | | Jeremy Lin | USA | New York Knicks | National Basketball Association | Basketball | Anthony Davis ( USA) – Kentucky Wildcats Robert Griffin III ( USA) – Baylor Bears Rob Gronkowski ( USA) – New England Patriots Alex Morgan ( USA) – Soccer | |
| 2013 | | Colin Kaepernick | USA | San Francisco 49ers | National Football League | American football | Johnny Manziel ( USA) – Texas A&M Aggies Yasiel Puig ( CUB) – Los Angeles Dodgers Mike Trout ( USA) – Los Angeles Angels Russell Wilson ( USA) – Seattle Seahawks | |
| 2014 | | Richard Sherman | USA | Seattle Seahawks | National Football League | American football | Nick Foles ( USA) – Philadelphia Eagles Damian Lillard ( USA) – Portland Trail Blazers Masahiro Tanaka ( JPN) – New York Yankees | |
| 2015 | | Mo'ne Davis | USA | Anderson Monarchs | Little League Baseball | Baseball | Odell Beckham Jr. ( USA) – New York Giants Cardale Jones ( USA) – Ohio State Buckeyes Jordan Spieth ( USA) – Golf | |
| 2016 | | Jake Arrieta | USA | Chicago Cubs | Major League Baseball | Baseball | Karl-Anthony Towns ( USA) – Minnesota Timberwolves Chloe Kim ( USA) – Snowboarding Conor McGregor ( IRL) – MMA | |
| 2017 | | Dak Prescott | USA | Dallas Cowboys | National Football League | American football | Giannis Antetokounmpo ( GRE) – Milwaukee Bucks Laurie Hernandez ( USA) – Gymnastics Aaron Judge ( USA) – New York Yankees Christian Pulisic ( USA) – Soccer | |
| 2018 | | Donovan Mitchell | USA | Utah Jazz | National Basketball Association | Basketball | Alvin Kamara ( USA) – New Orleans Saints Ben Simmons ( AUS) – Philadelphia 76ers Sloane Stephens ( USA) – Tennis | |
| 2019 | | Saquon Barkley | USA | New York Giants | National Football League | American football | Naomi Osaka ( JPN) – Tennis Christian Yelich ( USA) – Milwaukee Brewers Trae Young ( USA) – Atlanta Hawks | |
| 2020 | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 | | LaMelo Ball | USA | Charlotte Hornets | National Basketball Association | Basketball | Justin Herbert ( USA) – Los Angeles Chargers Chase Young ( USA) – Washington Football Team Crystal Dangerfield ( USA) – Minnesota Lynx | |
| 2022 | | Eileen Gu | CHN | — | — | Skiing | Ja Morant ( USA) – Memphis Grizzlies Trinity Rodman ( USA) Washington Spirit Jonathan Taylor ( USA) Indianapolis Colts | |
| 2023 | | Angel Reese | USA | LSU Women's Basketball | NCAA Division I | Basketball | Caitlin Clark ( USA) – Iowa Women's Basketball Brock Purdy ( USA) San Francisco 49ers Julio Rodríguez ( DOM) Seattle Mariners | |
| 2024 | | JuJu Watkins | USA | USC Women's Basketball | NCAA Division I | Basketball | Haleigh Bryant ( USA) – LSU women's gymnastics C. J. Stroud ( USA) Houston Texans Victor Wembanyama ( FRA) San Antonio Spurs | |