The 18th ESPY Awards were held on July 14, 2010, at the Nokia Theatre, hosted by Seth Meyers. For the first time since 2003 (when the ceremony was aired on a delay several days later), ESPN televised the ceremony live.

Categories

There are 37 categories and 3 special awards. The winners are listed first in bold. Other nominees are in alphabetical order.^[1]

Best Male Athlete	Best Female Athlete
Drew Brees – NFL Football ^[2] Kobe Bryant – NBA Basketball LeBron James – NBA Basketball Jimmie Johnson – Auto Racing Albert Pujols – MLB Baseball	Lindsey Vonn – Skiing Maya Moore – NCAA Basketball Diana Taurasi – WNBA Basketball Serena Williams – Tennis
Best Moment	Best Team
Landon Donovan – Goal vs. Algeria Phil Mickelson – 2010 Masters Joannie Rochette – 2010 Winter Olympics New Orleans Saints – Super Bowl XLIV	New Orleans Saints Alabama Crimson Tide football Chicago Blackhawks Los Angeles Lakers Connecticut Huskies women's basketball New York Yankees
Best Coach-Manager	Best Game
Phil Jackson – Los Angeles Lakers Geno Auriemma – Connecticut Huskies Mike Krzyzewski – Duke Blue Devils Joe Girardi – New York Yankees Sean Payton – New Orleans Saints Nick Saban – Alabama Crimson Tide	Canada edges United States – Olympic hockey championship game in overtime Twins beat Tigers in Extra Innings – AL Central One-Game Tiebreak Duke Blue Devils gets past Butler Bulldogs – Men's NCAA Championship
Best Championship Performance	Castrol Edge Performance Under Pressure Award
Drew Brees – NFL American football Anthony Johnson – Big Sky Conference Championship Michael Phelps – Swimming Shaun White – Winter Olympics	Landon Donovan World Cup vs. Algeria Sidney Crosby in the Olympic Hockey Gold Medal Game Brett Favre in his return to Green Bay Stephen Strasburg in MLB debut
Best Upset	Best Breakthrough Athlete
Northern Iowa shocks No. 1 Kansas – NCAA Men's Basketball Frankie Edgar over B.J. Penn – MMA Hawaii softball upsets #1 Alabama – NCAA softball Y. E. Yang stuns Tiger Woods – PGA Championship	Chris Johnson – Tennessee Titans Brittney Griner – Baylor Bears John Wall – Kentucky Wildcats Stephen Strasburg – Washington Nationals
Best Record Breaking Performance	Best Sports Movie
Isner vs. Mahut at Wimbledon – Longest Match in Professional Tennis History Usain Bolt – 100 and 200-meter World Records Brett Favre – NFL record for consecutive starts Roger Federer – Most Grand Slam singles titles Connecticut Huskies – Longest winning streak in Women's NCAA Basketball History	The Blind Side Big Fan Invictus The Damned United The Karate Kid
Best Male College Athlete	Best Female College Athlete
John Wall – Kentucky Wildcats Blake Geoffrion – Wisconsin Badgers Mark Ingram II – Alabama Crimson Tide Evan Turner – Ohio State Buckeyes Garrett Wittels – Florida International Golden Panthers	Maya Moore – Connecticut Huskies Tina Charles – Connecticut Huskies Megan Hodge – Penn State Nittany Lions Megan Langenfeld – UCLA Bruins
Best Male Athlete With A Disability	Best Female Athlete With A Disability
Steve Cash – Hockey Rudy Garcia-Tolson – Ironman Triathlon/Swimming Andy Soule – Nordic skiing	Amy Palmiero-Winters – Track & Field Linnea Dohring – Gymnastics Alana Nichols – Basketball Stephani Victor – Slalom
Best NBA Player	Best WNBA Player
Kobe Bryant – Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers Dwight Howard – Orlando Magic Dwyane Wade – Miami Heat Kevin Durant – Oklahoma City Thunder	Diana Taurasi – Phoenix Mercury Candace Parker – Los Angeles Sparks Tamika Catchings – Indiana Fever Becky Hammon – San Antonio Silver Stars Lauren Jackson – Seattle Storm
Best MLB Player	Best NFL Player
Albert Pujols – St. Louis Cardinals Tim Lincecum – San Francisco Giants Zach Greinke – Kansas City Royals Joe Mauer – Minnesota Twins Derek Jeter – New York Yankees	Drew Brees – New Orleans Saints Brett Favre – Minnesota Vikings Chris Johnson – Tennessee Titans Peyton Manning – Indianapolis Colts Darrelle Revis – New York Jets Charles Woodson – Green Bay Packers
Best NHL Player	Best MLS Player
Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins Ryan Miller – Buffalo Sabres Henrik Sedin – Vancouver Canucks Alexander Ovechkin – Washington Capitals Steven Stamkos – Tampa Bay Lightning	Landon Donovan – Los Angeles Galaxy Conor Casey – Colorado Rapids Jeff Cunningham – FC Dallas Shalrie Joseph – New England Revolution Kasey Keller – Seattle Sounders FC
Best Male Action Sports Athlete	Best Female Action Sports Athlete
Shaun White – Snowboarding Bobby Brown – Freestyle Skiing Ryan Dungey – Motocross Mick Fanning – Surfing Garrett Reynolds – BMX	Torah Bright – Snowboarding Stephanie Gilmore – Surfing Ashleigh McIvor – Freestyle Skiing Jen Hudak – Freestyle Skiing Ashley Fiolek – Motocross
Best US Male Olympian	Best US Female Olympian
Shaun White – Snowboarding Apolo Anton Ohno – Speedskating Shani Davis – Speedskating Evan Lysacek – Figure Skating Bode Miller – Skiing	Lindsey Vonn – Skiing Hannah Kearney – Skiing Julia Mancuso – Skiing
Best Bowler	Best Driver
Walter Ray Williams Jr. Kelly Kulick Bill O'Neill	Jimmie Johnson Kyle Busch Dario Franchitti Ron Hornaday Jr. Tony Schumacher
Best Fighter	Best Jockey
Floyd Mayweather Jr. – Boxing Manny Pacquiao – Boxing Georges St-Pierre – MMA	Calvin Borel Julien Leparoux Mike Smith
Best Male Golfer	Best Female Golfer
Phil Mickelson Tiger Woods Ernie Els	Lorena Ochoa Cristie Kerr Jiyai Shin
Best Male Tennis Player	Best Female Tennis Player
Roger Federer Rafael Nadal Juan Martín del Potro	Venus Williams Serena Williams Kim Clijsters

In Memoriam

References

^ "2022 ESPY Awards, TV Schedule, Nominees & Winners".
^ "Drew Brees Wins Best Male Athlete at ESPYs | The Pigskin Doctors". Archived from the original on 2010-07-18.

v t e ESPY Awards
Cross-cutter	Courage Female Athlete Male Athlete Female College Athlete Male College Athlete Breakthrough Athlete Championship Performance Coach/Manager 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 Boxer Driver Female Golfer Male Golfer Jockey MLS MLB MMA Fighter NBA NFL NHL NWSL 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 Golfer Female Track Male Track Outdoor Sportsman Movie Undeniable Performance Track and Field Comeback Athlete Fighter
Award ceremonies	1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023