The Best Game ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of a team who has performed the best play in the world of sports.[ 2] It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 2002.[ 3] The Best Game ESPY Award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan ,[ 4] is awarded to the team on the single regular season or playoff game contested professionally under the auspices of one of the four major North American leagues or collegiately under the auspices of the National Collegiate Athletic Association adjudged, in view of its quality, competitiveness, excitement, and significance, to be the best.[ 2] Since 2004, the winner has been chosen by online voting through choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee.[ 5] Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts.[ 6] 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.[ 3] [ a]
The inaugural winner of the Best Game ESPY Award in 2002 was the seventh game of the 2001 World Series which decided that year's baseball title in favour of the expansion team Arizona Diamondbacks over the New York Yankees .[ 7] [ 8] The following year's recipient of the accolade went to Ohio State University Buckeyes in their 2003 Fiesta Bowl victory over the University of Miami Hurricanes .[ 9] College football games have won the award three times and earned another two nominations after American football which has the most wins of any other sport with eight awards and six nominations while basketball and ice hockey games each have one victory each. The 2018 winner of the Best Game ESPY Award is the 2018 Winter Olympics women's ice hockey gold medal game in which the United States team won against Canada's squad in a 3–2 shootout victory to claim their first gold medal in women's ice hockey since the 1998 Winter Games .[ 10] The award wasn't awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic , in 2023 and 2024 .
Winners and nominees [ edit ]
Notes and references [ edit ]
^ 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.[ 3]
^ Felt, Hunter (July 13, 2017). "ESPY Awards 2017: Simone Biles and Russell Westbrook win Best Athletes - as it happened" . The Guardian . Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017 .
^ a b Nelson, Murry R. (2013). American Sports: A History of Icons, Idols and Ideas . Santa Barbara, California : ABC-CLIO . pp. 399–401. ISBN 978-0-313-39753-0 . Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2015 .
^ a b c "New categories unveiled for The 2002 ESPY Awards" (Press release). ESPN. 2002. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017 .
^ Avard, Christian (August 2, 2013). "Sculptor commissioned to complete Joe Frazier statue has died" . Barre Montpelier Times Argus . Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2018 .
^ "The 2004 ESPY Awards - Fans to decide all 2004 ESPY Award winners" . ESPN. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018 .
^ "Committee is newly found" . ESPN . February 3, 1999. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018 .
^ a b "Tiger Woods wins three ESPY Awards" . WDUN . Associated Press . July 11, 2002. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ a b Olney, Buster (November 5, 2001). "World Series; In Final Twist, New York Falls in Ninth" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on January 1, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ a b "Armstrong, Serena Williams earn athlete of the year honors" . Deseret News . Associated Press. July 17, 2003. Archived from the original on October 31, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017 .
^ a b Elliott Schlossman, Brad (July 18, 2018). "Lamoureux twins, Marvin win ESPY with Team USA for Best Game" . Grand Forks Herald . Retrieved December 25, 2018 .
^ Greene, Jerry (July 10, 2002). "Espys Beat The Dog Days Of Summer" . Orlando Sentinel . Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ "Fiesta Bowl: Ohio St. 31, Miami 24 (2OT)" . United Press International . January 4, 2003. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ "The 2003 ESPY Awards –Best Game nominees" . ESPN. Archived from the original on June 4, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ "Miscellaneous: ESPY Awards" . Democrat and Chronicle . July 15, 2004. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Silver, Michael (February 9, 2004). "Super Bowl 2004: Tom Brady led Patriots over Panthers" . Sports Illustrated . Archived from the original on May 6, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ "Jameer Nelson and Saint Joseph's Nominated for ESPYs" . Atlantic 10 Conference . June 29, 2004. Archived from the original on February 4, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ "Osterman nabs pair of ESPY Awards" . University of Texas at Austin . July 14, 2005. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Kepner, Tyler (October 19, 2004). "Even Longer: Red Sox Win Game 5 in 14 Innings" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on May 2, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Havens, Candace (July 17, 2005). "Perry hosts ESPY Awards on ESPN" . The News-Press . p. 191. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Swartz, Bryn (January 21, 2010). "Flashback: The Greatest Game Ever Played" . Bleacher Report . Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ "Nominees Announced and Fan Voting Begins for 14th Annual ESPYs" . ESPN. June 28, 2006. Archived from the original on January 5, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2017 .
^ "Boise State wins two ESPYs" . The Idaho Press-Tribune . July 11, 2007. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ McCarney, Dan (June 15, 2011). "Boise State a tough act to follow" . San Antonio Express-News . Archived from the original on June 19, 2011. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ "Big 12 Nominees Listed In Six Categories For 15th Annual ESPY Awards" . Big 12 Conference . June 26, 2007. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ "Athlete, Stories Honored at ESPYs" . Jet . Vol. 114, no. 4. Associated Press. August 4, 2008. p. 38. Retrieved June 4, 2018 – via Google Books .
^ Maske, Mark (February 4, 2008). "The Miracle Workers" . The Washington Post . Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ "Kansas University men's basketball team earns ESPY nomination" . Lawrence Journal-World . July 1, 2008. Archived from the original on May 7, 2017. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Collier, Gene (July 19, 2009). "Favre drags Vikings into his summer rerun" . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Klis, Mike (February 1, 2009). "Steelers win Super Bowl XLIII" . Denver Post . Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Nett, Dennis (June 25, 2009). "Syracuse basketball and 'The Express' get ESPY Award nominations" . The Post-Standard . Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ "ESPY Awards Night Belongs to Drew Brees" . CBS News . Associated Press. July 15, 2010. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Sappenfield, Mark (February 28, 2010). "USA vs. Canada was a perfect end to Vancouver Olympics: Eh No. 1" . The Christian Science Monitor . Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ "Lakers nominated for 'Best Team' Espy Award" . San Gabriel Valley Tribune . June 24, 2010. Archived from the original on January 6, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2018 .
^ Wixted, Ryan (July 14, 2011). "Eagles win an ESPY" . Burlington County Times . Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ "Eagles win over Giants gets ESPY nom" . Philadelphia Daily News . June 28, 2011. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ "Tom Coughlin, Drew Brees, Tim Tebow win ESPYs" . National Football League . July 12, 2012. Archived from the original on September 17, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Williams, Doug (July 3, 2012). "Niners' Comeback Playoff Win Nominated for Best Game of Year" . KNTV . Archived from the original on October 8, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ "LeBron James, Heat repeat at ESPYS" . ESPN. May 29, 2014. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Goodman, Joseph (June 19, 2013). "Miami Heat escapes with Game 6 win over Spurs, forces Game 7" . Miami Herald . Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Zrebiec, Jeff (June 27, 2013). "Ravens well represented among ESPY Awards nominees" . The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ A. Erickson, Joel (July 16, 2014). "Chris Davis' Kick Six, Auburn's Iron Bowl win over Alabama win Best Play, Best Game at ESPY's" . The Birmingham News . Archived from the original on September 28, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Forde, Pat (November 30, 2013). "Miracle men: Chris Davis' return lifts Auburn over Alabama and into college football lore" . Yahoo! Sports . Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Rankin, Duane (July 2, 2014). "Auburn has two nominations for ESPN ESPYS "Best Play" " . Montgomery Advertiser . Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Duff, Dale (July 16, 2015). "Gronk Scores An ESPY [VIDEO]" . WBLM . Archived from the original on November 2, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Castellano, Anthony (February 1, 2015). "Super Bowl 2015: The 5 Biggest Moments" . ABC News . Archived from the original on February 10, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Thomas, Oliver (June 24, 2015). "Patriots nominated for five ESPY awards" . 247Sports.com . Retrieved June 4, 2018 . [dead link ]
^ Vardon, Joe (July 13, 2016). "LeBron James, Cavs get together for more partying at ESPYs" . The Plain Dealer . Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Ali, Rasha (June 22, 2016). "2016 ESPY Nominees: LeBron James and Stephen Curry Face off Again" . Houston Chronicle . Archived from the original on June 23, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Goss, Nicholas (July 12, 2017). "Patriots Win ESPY Award For 'Best Game' After Great Super Bowl LI Comeback" . New England Sports Network . Archived from the original on December 10, 2017. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Strickland, Jamie (February 6, 2017). "Super Bowl LI: New England Patriots recover from record deficit to beat Atlanta Falcons" . BBC Sport. Archived from the original on March 2, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Morona, Joey (July 13, 2017). "ESPY Awards 2017: Predicting the winners" . The Plain Dealer . Archived from the original on August 15, 2017. Retrieved June 4, 2018 .
^ Kelly, Cathal (February 21, 2018). "USA tops Canada in shootout to win Olympic gold in women's hockey for first time since 1998" . The Globe and Mail . Retrieved December 25, 2018 .
^ Amey, Anthony (July 18, 2018). "Georgia's Rose Bowl victory up for 'Best Game' at 2018 ESPYs" . WSB-TV . Retrieved December 25, 2018 .
Cross-cutter Individual Former Ceremonies