Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN, the ESPYs will get underway, which can be live streamed free by clicking this link. This year's show will be hosted by comedian/actor Joel McHale, and will feature more than 30 awards.
Here are some of the awards that figure to be most hotly contested.
Best Championship Performance
Nominees: Madison Bumgarner (San Francisco Giants), LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers), Lauren Haeger (University of Florida), American Pharoah (Horse)
American Pharoah is a tough sell, because of the advantage of being a horse, so this comes down to the excellence of Bumgarner vs. the will of James. Bumgarner hurled 21 innings of one-run ball vs. the Kansas City Royals in the World series. He won two starts, and then earned a save in Game 7 by pitching five innings of relief.
James, on the other hand, willed a woefully undermanned Cavaliers team to two wins in the NBA Finals against the top team in the NBA from start to finish. He nearly averaged a triple-double for the series-35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists-and recorded two triple-doubles in six games. James' Cavs did not win the title, but he put up historic numbers with two All-Stars sidelined. Advantage: Bumgarner.
Best Fighter
Nominees: Floyd Mayweather Jr., Ronda Rousey, Donald Cerrone, Terence Crawford, Gennady Golovkin
Floyd Mayweather Jr. was the most successful fighter in this group, shattering every boxing pay-per-view record ever with his long-awaited win over Manny Pacquiao on May 2. Mayweather bored many casual fans who tuned in though, and may not have helped the sport grow as much as previous super fights did.
Rousey emerged as perhaps the UFC's most bankable star, and proved herself to be peerless in women's MMA. She has not been as prolific as Cerrone though, who has fought seven times since January 2014 and earned seven victories.
Crawford and Golovkin are potential standard-bearers for when Mayweather is gone. Crawford moved up to junior welterweight this year and earned a stunning knockout. Before that, he'd wiped out the lightweight class and he's on the cusp of being named one of the pound-for-pound top fighters in the world.
Golovkin is boxing's current knockout king. He is the hardcore fan's favorite fighter, and he has big names running scared. Golovkin has fought five times since 2014, and has knocked out all of those opponents brave enough to face him. In fact, Golovkin has won his last 20 fights by way of KO or TKO. Advantage: Terence Crawford
Best NHL Player
Nominees: Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens), Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals), John Taveras (New York Islanders), Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks), Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks)
The NHL was torn over Price vs. Ovechkin vs. Taveras this season for the Hart Trophy, which eventually was bestowed upon Carey Price, who also took home the Vezina Trophy. Ovechkin was an unstoppable force as a goal scorer in 2014-15, while Taveras epitomized pure playmaking.
The postseason belonged to the Chicago Blackhawks, however, and Toews and Keith in particular. Toews has more star quality, but Keith was an absolute workhorse. He averaged 38 shifts per game this postseason; that was the second-highest rate behind Nashville's Roman Josi, but the Predators were eliminated in Round 1. In that vast amount of ice time, plus-minus was +16. Advantage: Price
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