Simone Biles was among the biggest winners at the 2025 ESPYs on Wednesday. ESPN’s annual award show recognized the accomplishments of top athletes over the past year, with host Shane Gillis stoking controversy and first responders being celebrated for heroism following the January fires that scorched Los Angeles.
Biles took home the ESPYs for both the Best Athlete in Women’s Sports and Best Championship Performance; while Saquon Barkley got the ESPY for Best Play. SHai Gilgeous-Alexander won Best Athlete in Men’s Sports. JuJu Watkins, Coco Gauff, Caitlin Clark, Shohei Ohtani and Ilona Maher were also among the athletes who won ESPYs last night.
“That was very unexpected, especially in a category of all men,” Biles said of her Best Championship Performance win, after beating out Steph Curry, Freddie Freeman and Rory McIlroy.
Host Gillis opened the show with a monologue that drew a mixed reaction from the audience. He took jabs at North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick and Belichick’s 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson.
“A bookie is what Bill Belichick reads to his girlfriend before bedtime,” he said. “They read The Very Horny Caterpillar, The Little Engine That Could but Needed a Pill First and of course the classic Goodnight Boobs.”
“He won six Super Bowls. He’s dating a hot 24-year-old. Maybe if you guys won six Super Bowls you wouldn’t be sitting next to a fat, ugly dog wife.”
Gillis also made a joke about WNBA star Caitlin Clark that stoked controversy.
“When Caitlin Clark retires from the WNBA, she’s going to work at a Waffle House so she can continue doing what she loves most…,” Gillis said. “Fist fighting Black women.”
Pusha T and Malice of Clipse performed their classic hit, “Grindin,’” and “Ace Trumpets,” the venomous lead single from their new album, Let God Sort Em Out.
Los Angeles first responders who battled wildfires in early 2025 and former athletes David Walters and Erin Regan received the Pat Tillman Award for Service. NBA legend Oscar Robertson received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage and Penn State women’s volleyball coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley was honored with the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance.
2025 ESPYs Winners
- Best Championship Performance: Simone Biles, Team USA Gymnastics
- Best Play: Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles
- Best Breakthrough Athlete: Ilona Maher, Rugby
- Best Athlete, Women’s Sports: Simone Biles, Team USA Gymnastics
- Best Comeback Athlete: Suni Lee, Team USA Gymnastics
- Best Athlete, Men’s Sports: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
- Best Record-Breaking Performance: Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
- Best Athlete with a Disability: Noah Elliot, Snowboarding
- Best Team: Philadelphia Eagles
- Best WNBA Player: Caitlin Clark
- Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports: JuJu Watkins, USC Basketball
- Best College Athlete, Men’s Sports: Cooper Flagg, Duke Basketball
- Best MLB Player: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
- Best NHL Player: Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
- Best NBA Player: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
- Best Driver: Max Verstappen, F1
- Best UFC Fighter: Merab Dvalishvili
- Best Boxer: Katie Taylor
- Best Soccer Player: Christian Pulisic, AC Milan, US
- Best Golfer: Scottie Scheffler
- Best Tennis Player: Coco Gauff
- Gatorade Best Female Player of the Year: Jane Hendengren, Cross Country, Track and Field
- Gatorade best Male Player of the Year: Cameron Boozer, Basketball
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